Sun and Moon
by FFGirl15
Summary: He saw her. She saw him. They met. They wooed. They made exchange of vow. They just didn't expect their parents to ruin it for them. Rated T for language and violence. Umbreon's POV. UmbreonxEspeon
1. Betrothal

**Author's Note 1: Okay! Here's a new fanfic that I hope becomes a hit and you readers can help make this a hit by reading, reviewing, and mentioning this fic to your friends! Anyway, enjoy!**

**Author's Note 2: I'm using different names from different languages for the characters in this fanfic, so below are the different meanings and origins for the names in case you want to know what they mean. And I'll even put what Pokemon they are.**

**Lune(Umbreon: Male)-French for "moon"  
****Solana(Espeon: Female)- Spanish for "sun"  
****Raiden(Jolteon: Male)-Japanese for "thunder god"  
****Aqua(Vaporeon: Female)-Latin for "water"  
****Mota(Flareon: Female)-Female form of the French word **_**Moto**_**, which means "fire"  
****Kai(Vaporeon: Male)-Hawaiian for "sea"  
****Mizuki(Umbreon: Female)-Japanese for "beautiful moon"  
****Istas(Glaceon: Female)-Native American for "snow"  
****Hojo(Leafeon: Male)-Male form of the Spanish word **_**Hoja**_**, which means "leaf"  
****Taka(Lucario: Male)-Short for Japanese word **_**Takayuki**_**, which means "noble"  
****Joy(Chansey: Female)-Named after Nurse Joy in the anime  
****Sakura(Cherrim: Female)-Japanese for "cherry blossom"  
****Flora(Sunflora: Female)-Spanish for "flower"  
****Hikaru(Pikachu: Male)-Japanese for "light"  
****Abby(Bayleef: Female)-Native American for "leaf"  
****Yami(Mightyena: Male)-Japanese for "darkness"  
****Yaku(Absol: Male)-Japanese for "disaster"  
****Takeshi(Fearow: Male)-Japanese for "fierce"  
****Kane(Chimecho: Male)-Japanese for "bell"  
****Uta(Chimecho: Female)-Japanese for "song"  
****Lucy(Illumise: Female)-Short for Spanish word **_**luciérnaga**_**, which means "firefly"  
****Draco(Salamence: Male)-Latin for "dragon"  
****Ryu(Dragonite: Male)-Japanese for "dragon"  
****Sora(Charizard: Male)-Japanese for "sky"  
****Tatsuo(Flygon: Male)-Japanese for "dragon man"**

**Summary: He saw her. She saw him. They met, they wooed, they made exchange of vow. They just didn't expect their parents to ruin it for them. UmbreonxEspeon **

Chapter 1: Betrothal

I lay there under my favorite tree allowing the soft, green grass to brush up against my black fur. The water flowed down stream up against my paws. The first sights and sounds of spring surrounded me. Birds chirped and bees buzzed. Snow melted and flowers bloomed. The hibernating awakened and started their search for their mates. If you take out the hibernating part of that last comment, then that's what I would be starting today. At least, that's what I would be doing if I was able to live out on my own life. Unfortunately, my family believes in having their fates chosen by their parents. My father's fate was chosen by his as his father's fate was chosen by his. Therefore, the tradition will continue and my fate will be decided today now that I've become of age.

In the average Pokemon family, a Pokemon will choose his or her own fate when he or she comes of age. Usually, that's the time that a Pokemon will leave their family and join the wild in hopes of either surviving in the wild or finding a friendly trainer to travel with. The finding a friendly trainer doesn't fit in my life. I've always grown up hearing my father go up against siding with humans. It makes me wonder how he and my mother evolved without coming in contact with a human. It's not like a young Eevee can suddenly find a Thunder or Water Stone and use it on itself. Or can they? I sighed once I started loosing my mind.

I shifted my view from my reflection in the river to my favorite tree. There was a family of Noctowl living in the hollow of this tree. The smaller Noctowl, which was the child of the family, was leaving his family to join the wild. The parents were shedding tears as they watched their son fly off with the rest of the flying Pokemon. I shut my eyes and shook my head in disbelief that it could never happen to me. Ever since I was born, I grew up with my father making all of my decisions. I didn't want this to happen, not at this age. The sun was rising higher and higher by the minute. My father was going to come and get me anytime, so I stood up and stretched out a bit before heading back to my family's cave. I stopped in my tracks and took one last look at the wild in front of me.

"Lune?" My father called me by my name. I sighed and started to head over to where my father was standing with my mother.

"Yes, Dad?" I answered.

"It's a good thing you're fully awake because you have to get ready."

"First of all, Dad, it's like 10 in the morning. I woke up like 3 hours ago."

"Well, then why didn't you get ready earlier?" My mother asked. I just shrugged.

"Anyway, Lune, you're a young Umbreon and have finally come of age. So now, it's time for you to meet your fate."

"Joy." I said with sarcasm.

"See, Aqua? I knew he'd be happy about this!" My father said to my mother. "Now, go Lune! We mustn't wait too long on you!"

I sighed as I walked back over to the stream where I was a few minutes ago. Get ready for what? I stepped into the stream and started to roll in it getting myself all clean. I trotted in the water over to the little waterfall and got under that too. After letting the icy cold water pour onto my back, I hopped out and shook the water off my fur drying it up. Whatever my father had planned, didn't sound very exciting. Well, what do you expect from an old Jolteon anyway? It's not like you can expect a glamorous life. Their bodies are covered with spikes making them a pain in the ass, literally.

When I walked back, I saw my parents talking with two other Pokemon. They looked like one of us, so I guess it had something to do with me. I walked over a little closer and then sat down behind my parents like they would've had me do in the first place. I started to draw myself a little doodle on the little patch of dirt that was right in front of me. I drew myself howling at the moon like any Umbreon would do if he were out on his own. I smiled at the thought of myself actually standing on an old stump howling to a full moon on the darkest evening.

"Oh! Here he is!" My father referred to me as he came and stood behind me.

"This is mine and Raiden's son, Lune." My mother introduced me to their friends that were obviously married as she wrapped her freakishly long tail around me. Of course, Vaporeon are famous for their long, mermaid-like tails.

"Wow, what a beautiful son." The female said. Of course she thinks I'm beautiful, she's an Umbreon herself. She turned to her husband. "Kai, where is Mota?" Who was Mota?

"Hmm, I don't know, Mizuki." Kai looked around. It looked obvious that he was attracted to my mother since he was a Vaporeon as well. "Mota!"

"Yes?" A feminine voice from a distance answered.

"Come meet Raiden and Aqua's son, Lune!"

"Oh! He's here?" Mota asked in a hyper manner. I backed up not liking what was going on. I stared past Kai and Mizuki to find a young Flareon trotting towards us and then stopping right in front of her parents. "Are you Raiden and Aqua's son?" She asked me.

"Uh…yeah. Sort of." I answered rubbing my paw in the dirt.

"What do you mean, sort of?" Dad asked me. "You're either someone's child or not."

"Okay, fine. Yes." I heaved a big sigh.

"Oh my gosh!" Mota when insane. "You're just the cutest thing I've ever seen! Better yet, the hottest one around!"

"Um…okay."

"Lune, why don't you show Mota around the place a bit. They came here from a whole different part of the region." Mom suggested.

"Sure." I answered without much enthusiasm.

I glared at my parents in the corner of my eye. For some reason, I had that strange feeling that their little "plan" would have something to do with a girl. Mota just gave me a little cutesy look and giggled before I started to walk off. Obviously, she followed me and kept trying to keep up with me. It was really awkward throughout the time because of how weird she was acting around me. At times, Mota would tap my paw with her paw on purpose. It seemed like she was flirting with me. I didn't want her flirting with me or touching me at all. Mota was just plain to weird.

We ended up walking through most of the forest. A lot of Pokemon that lived in the forest were admiring us thinking we were a couple. It made me sick the way they would think of such a thing. I didn't even say a word to the kid and she was making it worse than it already was. She kept asking me random stuff such as what time is it or what moves can Totodile learn or even what level Numel evolves. I would think that as a Pokemon, she would know that kind of stuff.

After walking in the forest for a long time, Mota and I decided to take it into the mountains. Which wasn't going to last long because she kept freaking out that she was going to break a nail. I don't understand girls these days and I probably never will. Even though I didn't like this girl one bit, I knew my parents would kill me if I left Mota behind, so I waited for her while she struggled to keep up with me. Maybe we should've just stayed in the forest.

"Let's rest up here." Mota suggested when we got to a resting point. I nodded in agreement. I just sat at the edge looking out at the distance and Mota came to sit next to me. "Ah, the breeze feels great!"

"Yeah, I guess." I agreed.

"Do you come here often?"

"No, not really."

"That's surprising. A quiet hottie like you would come up here nonstop." Mota giggled. I started to get a headache from all of her weird giggling. "Have you ever had a girlfriend before?" I shook my head. "That's surprising too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but it'll all be okay when we're married." She sighed. I could've sworn that my eyes popped out when she said that.

"Married?" I asked in shock.

"Didn't your parents tell you? We're betrothed!"

"Betrothed?" Sweat dripped from my face. _Damn! _I thought to myself. "When did this happen?"

"When we were born!"

"Oh boy." I said sarcastically.

"I know! Isn't it great?" Mota then started leaning into my face. "Pucker up!"

"Uh…I gotta go!" I got up and ran away as fast as I could.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

No way! There was no way I was waiting for that freak that suddenly said we were betrothed and then tried to kiss me right afterwards. I didn't want to marry her! How could my parents do something like this? Better yet, why would they _not _do something like this? I felt anger rise in my chest like I wanted to smash someone to pieces. I ran all the way down from the mountains back over to where my parents were sun bathing with Kai and Mizuki.

I breathed out heavily with my anger level continuously rising. Then, I ran from behind our parents to end up right in front of them. They were too busy talking to notice that was standing there. I had to clear my throat a few times hoping they would listen and respond, but that didn't seem to happen. Mota kept calling my name and running in my direction. So, I followed my instincts. I lifted up my paw and nailed a Sand-Attack right in my father's face.

He cried out in pain and started panicking. Maybe I should've just used Tackle instead. Eventually, my mom sprayed Water Gun in his eyes washing the sand that was in them. While, this was happening, my dad accidentally backed into a tree that had a large family of Beedrill living in it. I stared at them widely as they looked pretty pissed off at us. My mother whispered at all of us to start running, but my father stayed behind and kept trying to hit the Beedrill with Thundershock attacks. He missed every single time. That's when Kai decided to go and join my father. After the Beedrill were defeated, everyone could calm down now.

Once everyone was calm, their eyes shifted to where I was standing. Even Mota gave me a questioning look. What did I do? Sure, I kicked sand into my father's face when I meant to kick it against his back, but they're the ones who lied to me about this whole betrothal thing. Their expressions went from questioning to angry. My father was finally able to get the sand out of his eyes and then express his emotions to me. His glare made him look like he was about to fire a Thunder attack on me. I backed away from him and bit and he just got right in front of me.

"What were you thinking?" He yelled. I stayed silent and glared at him. "Answer me." I didn't say anything. "I said answer me, damn you!"

"I was thinking that I was being raised by a liar." I muttered.

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"…I guess so."

"Lune, go to the cave." Mom said calmly. "I'll be there in a minute to talk to you."

"Fine." I sighed as I walked over to our cave. The cave was close, so I was still able to hear my parents converse.

"I'm so sorry." Dad apologized to Kai and Mizuki.

"It's quite alright." Kai chuckled. "We'll just have to come by some other time. Right Mizuki and Mota?"

"Yeah." They both answered. "Well, I think it's time we take off. We should get together again sometime soon." Mizuki suggested.

"We'd love to." Dad answered.

"Tell Lune I love him!" Mota said jumping up and down.

"We will." Mom chuckled. "Raiden, I don't think it's a good idea to keep Lune cooped up at home all the time and you shouldn't have struck him like that. He's grown up and needs to be wild."

"That's no excuse, Aqua!" Dad stormed. "As my son, he needs to learn to be a man! And to be a man, you have to except the times where you can't make decisions yourself!"

"As a man, you need to allow Lune to make decisions on his own too. You never give him a chance."

"Give him a chance? That's what you suggested when he was younger and look at him now! He's the same disrespectful child that I raised and he will NEVER be one of us!" I heard my dad yell.

My throat felt so dry that it felt like there was a lump in it. That bastard! I hated my father! I hated him with a passion! I was getting that urge to just leave the cave and yell at him, but that wouldn't change anything. He would still win! He always wins fights when I go up against him. Well, you know what, I'm sick of it! I'm sick of my father taking control of my life thinking he's going to rule the world! My head was telling me to go out and teach my bitch of a father a lesson while my heart was telling me to stay and just wait a little while. I ignored that and ran out of the cave where my parents were still talking.

"How could you say something like that?" I yelled at my raged father.

"Lune, go back into the cave." Mom said trying to calm both of us down. Apparently, it wasn't working that well.

"No!"

"Lune! You will do as your mother says and get back to that damn cave!" Dad yelled.

"No! I don't deserve this! I don't deserve the abuse that you gave me when I was younger! I thought I could look up to you, but I guess I can kiss that goodbye!"

"Either you get your ass in that cave or you're gonna kiss this family goodbye."

"Fine. I'll kiss this family goodbye." I sighed and glared at my father. Dad sighed and then suddenly struck me with his paw. I fell to the ground in pain and saw blood drip from my face. I gritted my teeth and got back up on my feet. "How do you like that, huh? If you leave this family, you're going to get more of those every day."

"The pain is nothing compared to the emotional pain you gave me, Dad." I said in a hoarse voice. "I hate you."

"What?" He asked.

"I hate you!"

I yelled my last thing to my father before rushing out the opposite direction. Tears started falling down my cheeks as well as blood continued dripping from my forehead. Before stopping at the river to wash my cut, I wiped my tears. If there was one thing my dad hated seeing was me crying. I couldn't let him see me cry in case he was following me. After wiping my tears, I stepped into the river and soaked my head into the water for a few seconds before catching my breath again. The blood stopped dripping, but it looked like the cut was going to end up as a scar.

My anger level was still at the max right now. I took a few breaths before splashing my reflection in the water. Once the ripples from the splash had faded away, I saw a reflection of my mother. She always looked so peaceful compared to my father. Like all mothers, she would have her moments where I would have to be disciplined, but at least she didn't abuse or neglect me. Mom's reflection sighed and then her lips curled up into a small smile just like the ones she gave me when she comforted me back when I was a young Eevee.

"Lune?" I turned around and saw my mother standing there with a concerned look on her face. "You're not really thinking of leaving, are you?"

"I don't have a choice. Dad said I don't belong here."

"Never mind what your father said. He says a lot of things." She chuckled and sat next to me. Mom also put her tail around me. "You look really sad."

"I am. Dad's right. I don't belong here. I belong out there, in the wild. I know you'll miss me, but I've got to go."

"I won't just miss you, your father will be heartbroken if you suddenly leave." Mom sighed.

"No he wouldn't. He doesn't care about me one bit." I gritted my teeth together.

"He does care, Lune. The moment you were born was the happiest he's ever been."

"Then, why does he act this way?" I asked turning away from Mom.

"I…I don't know."

"See? He doesn't care." I sighed and turned back to looking at my mother. "I have to go, Mom."

"Well…" My mother sighed while her eyes filled with tears. "Just be careful out there, son."

I smiled as I stepped closer to my mother and nuzzled her. She nuzzled me as well and kissed me on my cheek just like she did in my younger days. Sure, my father may be a bastard, but my mother was the complete opposite. She started to cry while I was still nuzzling her. When I broke away, tears were coming down her eyes a lot harder than I thought they were. I lifted my paw and held her paw in mine. My mother calmed down and then smiled a little.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll be okay."

"Oh, I know you will. It's just that you're the only son I've ever had."

"Well, one day I'll raise my own son or daughter that you can cuddle with all you want." I chuckled before releasing my grip with her paw.

"Goodbye, Lune."

"Yeah." I agreed. "Goodbye, Mother." Then, I gave my mother a kiss on her forehead before stepping back a few steps.

After stepping back a few steps, Mom nodded in her head telling me to go ahead and leave. I nodded in agreement before turning around and taking off from my home at full speed. I was officially taking my first steps to freedom.

**Author's Note: Well, did you like it? Hate it? If you liked it, please review! If you didn't, pretend to like it and review it anyway, please! Again, if you are wondering what the names of the characters mean, they're at the top. Anyway, look for chapter 2 coming soon!**


	2. Friends

**Author's Note: Yeah, here's chapter 2! Well… here you go! Before we start, I'd like to thank my reviewers! You guys made me happy :D So, yeah. Let's go!**

**Summary: They met, they wooed, they made exchange of vow. They just didn't expect their parents to ruin it for them. UmbreonxEspeon**

Chapter 2: Friends

Now, if you were trying to keep as far away from your family as possible, where would you go? Obviously, you'd flee to a whole different forest as far from here as possible, so I did. Unfortunately, I had no idea where I was supposed to be going. It was one of those "left or right" deals. It's not like I'm a bird Pokemon that can just soar in the sky and see where I'm going. If I could, that would help so much right now. I sighed just looking up at the cloudy sky right now. Right now, I was in this dry area that looked like there was no sign of life. The only residents here would be a bunch of Rock-type Pokemon. I was such an idiot not to stop and ask that Nosepass a while back for directions.

* * *

_Flashback_

_"Dammit, where am I?" I asked while looking around._

_"Looking for directions?" A voice said from a distance. I looked over and saw a Nosepass just standing there leaning against a wall. "I can help."_

_"No thanks. I'm fine."_

_"This desert is very big, you will get lost." He warned me._

_"Me? Get lost? I'm an Umbreon. No members of the Eevee family ever get lost." I said with confidence before walking off._

_"You'll regret it."_

_"Yeah, whatever!"_

_End of Flashback_

* * *

No members of the Eevee family ever get lost, what was I thinking? Now, I'm lost in one of the driest places in the world. I was hungry and thirsty. If there was ever a time where I was a Flareon, now would've been a good time. They never have to worry about getting overheated unlike me, who was black, and dark colors absorb sunlight making the weather hotter than ever! Besides, my poor mother is probably worried sick about me. Unlike my father, who probably is rejoicing about my disappearance. At least my mother cared about me.

The place was quiet. It was almost…too quiet for me. Where I come from, there is at least running water or peeping sounds coming from Pidgey. The only sound here was the wind blowing around. I heard a Pokemon humming some tune to himself nearby, but I couldn't see them, so I wouldn't be able to pull over and ask for directions. Damn, I was so hungry right now. I wished that there was at least a little Rattata that I could hunt, but this place was too dry for rats. There wasn't even a small stream for water. That's when I realized the kind of place that I craved the most. Orre Forest. It's got great places to live, lots of food to eat, and a watering hole to drink and bathe in.

"Come on, the forest has gotta be here somewhere." I complained. "Maybe, it's just straight ahead. Maybe it's…beyond this rock." When I got to the rock, there was nothing there, just more desert until I saw what looked to be like a forest. "That's it!"

My eyes lit up when I finally saw my destination. The heat and torture back there was seriously worth it. I was finally going to where I truly belonged! I panted as I sprinted there as fast as I could. My expression faded when I stopped, though. It turned out that it was all a mirage. If I didn't find water soon, I was going to dry out. I gasped when I saw a bunch of bones that belonged to different Pokemon. I'm surprised that they don't call this place the Desert of Death. I sat down to catch my breath a little before I saw a Fearow perch himself on top of a skull that belonged to a Rhydon.

"Hey buddy, you'd better watch yourself." The Fearow snickered. "Or you'll be joining them soon." I glared at him as he continued to make fun of my situation.

"My name's Lune. I'm trying to find the Orre Forest here and you can't stop me." I crouched into a defensive position.

"Oh really, Mr. Wise Guy?" He mocked me.

"You're grumpy."

"Grumpy?" The Fearow gritted his teeth. "I'll show you, grumpy!" He flapped his wings and started soaring over in my direction.

"Hey! I just need a little help here!" I asked. I swiped my paw as he tried to hit me with a Drill Peck attack. "What's with you? I don't want to fight you! Let's be friends!" I said as I started to run away from Fearow.

"Friends?" Fearow mocked me again. "Fearow don't need friends."

I kept running away from him since I had no use trying to attack him. All of my attacks would just miss him. The only attack that I could use on him is Shadow Ball, but that still won't work because he's half Normal-type. I figured that if I kept running like I am now, then sooner or later, I'd end up in Orre Forest. Unfortunately, this Fearow wouldn't stop pestering and harassing me. I started to pant and get winded out. Fortunately, I ended up at a small meadow that had a lake that I could drink from, but it wasn't the Orre Forest. After getting a drink, I ran away from the Fearow a little more before I started to get seriously exhausted.

"Well, at least he's probably gone." I sighed hoping that Fearow had left.

"Hey, buddy. Remember me?" Fearow teased me.

"That's it!" I yelled. "Buzz off!" I leaped into the air and wrapped my jaw around Fearow's neck.

"Holy crap! You've got strong jaws!"

"I'll let go, if you buzz off and leave me alone."

"Fine." Fearow growled. I opened my jaw and let Fearow fly back up into the sky. I just hope that he wasn't as sneaky as a lot of people say they are.

"Hmm…" I sat down for a minute. "I'm in the meadow, but now where do I go?" Some Meganium were right near me munching on some leaves from the trees. "Hey, excuse me. I'm looking for…" I began to ask until they ran away. "…the Orre Forest." I sighed and ran off trying to find someone else that could give me directions. A Mamoswine was standing over near a lake when I ran up to her. "Excuse me…"

"Move out of the way." She groaned as she started stomping in my direction.

"But I just need…"

"I told you to move!"

"Okay, okay." I gave up. Well, that didn't work out, so I went around a few bushes and saw a herd of Stantler grazing on the grass. "Hey…" I began to say before they all looked up at me and then ran off. "Wait! Come on!"

Now, I was the only one left in the field. I sighed as I sat down trying to think this through. Well, I was away from home, but I still was no happier than I was back at home. Nobody will help me find Orre Forest. What's up? Everybody just seems to either run away or attack me. It's like I'm a trespasser or something like that. I heard a growl from a distance and looked in the direction that it was coming from. When I did look, I saw a Mightyena leap towards me and knock me on the ground.

What the hell was wrong with everybody? I knocked off the Mightyena and crouched into a defensive position because obviously this guy wanted to fight. He leapt at me again and this time I dodged it. I started dashing after the Mightyena with Quick Attack, which hit him pretty good. It didn't last long, though. My Quick Attack was countered with the Mightyena's Take Down. I was knocked against a tree, but my enemy took some damage himself as well. I wasn't giving up, though. I used a combination of Screech and then charged at him with Faint Attack. If only this guy wasn't a Dark-type, I could've done major damage. This time, the Mightyena kicked sand into my eyes using Sand-Attack. Unfortunately, this was bringing back memories of when I caused a horrible fight between my father and I just before I left home. My eyes were in pain and I couldn't see anything. Before I knew it, I felt his paw smack me across the face knocking me onto the ground. I was finally able to get the sand out of my eyes, but opened up my eyes to find the Mightyena on top of me.

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked trying to knock the Mightyena off of me. "I'm just looking for the Orre Forest."

"You're not going anywhere." He growled. I was about to be the victim of a vicious Bite attack, but he stopped for a minute and sniffed a bit. "Wait, hold on a sec." The Mightyena started sniffing my upper body some.

"Whoa, cut it out!"

"Hey! I think I know you from somewhere!"

"Well, my name is Lune, if that helps."

"Aha, I thought so. You have the same scent." Mightyena nodded. "I know someone who would love to see you."

"Huh? Who?" I asked.

"Hey! Yami!" Mightyena and I both looked up into the sky to see the same Fearow that was harassing me earlier.

"What is it, Takeshi?" I assumed that the Mightyena's name was Yami and the Fearow's name was Taskeshi.

"I just spotted another group of Team Rocket Grunts heading this way! They're really getting serious now! Two Linoone and a whole tree full of Staravia and Starly have already been captured. They're looking for stronger Pokemon like us now. We have to split now!" Takeshi explained before flying off.

"So, who's Team Rocket?" I asked.

"Shh! Get down!" Yami demanded as he hid us behind a bush.

Two men in black uniforms that had a big red "R" on the front were driving in some sort of jeep. They were dragging along a cage full of two Linoone and a cage full of two Staravia and their Starly babies. I glared at the two men as they passed by us without even noticing a sound. The Linoone looked miserable and the Starly babies were crying out of fear while the Staravia parents were trying to calm them down. I growled as I could hear the two men snarl amongst each other.

"Okay, they're gone." Yami said getting up. "Now, move out! Takeshi, follow the Umbreon. I'm gonna go after the Team Rocket grunts and try and free those Pokemon."

"Right." Takeshi agreed.

Great, I thought to myself. Not only am I going to have to try and avoid all of these Team Rocket grunts, but I'm also going to have to try and lose Takeshi considering how annoying he is when he follows you. I ran as fast as I could. Unfortunately, out of the corner of my eye, I could see that the Team Rocket grunts saw me. They threw these balls that were red and white. I remember seeing people throw these things back at home. My mother told me that they were called Pokeballs and that they were used to capture Pokemon to use in battles. Out of each ball came a Pokemon. One of them was a Sandslash and the other one was an Arbok.

"Move it!" I yelled at the Pokemon.

"No way! You're gonna eat my dust!" Sandslash used his claws to throw sand at me. I wasn't going to let sand into my eyes again, so I smoothly dodged it and leapt at the Sandslash using Iron Tail. "Holy crap! This guy's strong!"

"Not strong enough to defeat me!" Arbok yelled. "Take this!" With that, he spat out an Acid attack against me. I got hit by that. Boy, did it feel gross and bubbly. "How do you like that, kitty?"

"First of all, I'm not a cat. Second of all, I'm just getting warmed up!" I fired a Shadow Ball attack over at Arbok.

"Well, in that case, you'll LOVE this!" Sandslash yelled as he slashed me across my body. Obviously, it was Fury Cutter because I felt major pain from that. "And this!" He slashed me again and it felt worse. "It just keeps going on and on!" After a third slash, I started to get tired.

"Oh my turn! How about this!" Arbok yelled as he nailed me with Poison Sting.

"Check this out!" Sandslash then fired a silver Gyro Ball attack at me. Haven't they had enough already. "Do it Arbok! Do it for our masters!"

"You got it Sandslash!" Arbok agreed. Then, I felt a squeeze in my body. I had been wrapped up by Arbok's long body. His eyes started to glow and I started to feel numb. "Face it, Umbreon. You may be quick, but you're not strong."

"I'm…strong enough…" I whispered through my teeth. "…strong enough to defeat you!"

I sank my teeth into Arbok's tail releasing me from his grip. While Arbok was blowing on the bite marks I left on his tail, Sandslash was getting another Gyro Ball ready. When he fired it, I dodged it and then my eyes started to glow as I stared at both Pokemon meanly. Afterwards, I glared at them a second time, but with a different power. Arbok and Sandslash's eyes looked weird and they started attacking each other. My Mean Look and Confuse Ray combination will never be outsmarted by anybody. I laughed as the Arbok and Sandslash knocked each other out and the Team Rocket grunts returned their Pokemon to their Pokeballs.

This gave me the perfect time to escape just in case they had anymore Pokemon up their sleeves. Hopefully they won't. I ran a little ways away to find some voices near me. It sounded like they were calling for help, so I followed their voices. When I found who they belonged to, it turned out that they were in a cage. The two Pokemon were a young Pikachu and a Bayleef. The Pikachu was zapping the cage while the Bayleef was whacking the bars of the cage with vines.

"Come on, Hikaru! Burn this thing to a crisp!" The Bayleef said to the Pikachu.

"I can't!" He replied after using another Thunderbolt attack. "I'm not strong enough! What do I look like to you? An Entei? If your vines are that strong, then we should be broken out of here by now, Abby!" Hikaru said to the Bayleef.

"Well gee, maybe if I wasn't resistant to steel then maybe we would be broken out!" Abby argued with Hikaru.

"Um…excuse me." I cleared my throat.

"Hey! Back off!" Abby demanded while arming herself with her vines. "I have vines and I'm not afraid to use them!"

"Y-You're an Umbreon!" Hikaru panicked.

"So…it looks like you guys are stuck in here."

"Stuck? Who said that we were stuck in here?" Hikaru asked.

"Your argument." I simply answered.

"Well…do YOU have any brilliant plans? If you do, then you'll have to hurry because the Team Rocket grunts will be back anytime now to pick us up." Abby explained.

"I might. Just let me take a look at this thing first."

I answered Abby before I walked around the cage figuring out how the Team Rocket grunts opened and shut this thing. Too bad Pokemon aren't as intelligent as humans are, even though we deserve to be just as intelligent. I couldn't find a door on it since all of the bars looked the exact same, so I decided to try digging my way under. Unfortunately, I would have to a Sandshrew to dig quick enough to escape before the Team Rocket grunts return. I sighed realizing that digging my way into the cage would be out of the question. If there was a Fire-type Pokemon around, maybe I could've asked them to melt the cage for me, but there aren't any around.

For now, those were the two options I had, but there had to be at least one more way that I could bust open this cage. I looked around the cage one more time and saw that there was something different on a pair of bars. It looked like a pad lock. I nudged the bars that the lock was on with my paws and realized that it was a door. Realizing what I had to do, I grabbed the lock with my mouth and yanked on it as hard as I could. It wasn't coming off unfortunately. There was only one move I knew that was sharp enough to break this lock. I backed up and charged at the lock with my Iron Tail move. My tail slashed the lock and it busted off. Then, I was able to push open the door without fail.

"Voila!" I grinned.

"Whoa. I can't believe you did that." Hikaru gazed.

"I guess we owe you for that." Abby said in a friendly way for the first time.

"It's no big deal."

"Abby! They're coming back! Run!" Hikaru ran out of the cage at full speed.

"Come on!" I said to Abby. She nodded in agreement.

We headed for someplace safe as Team Rocket drove through the area. It was obvious that they knew that Abby and Hikaru had escaped. Plus, they were after me as well. Because I had defeated their Pokemon earlier, they were now using these net launchers to launch nets at us. Thankfully, none of us got caught in the nets, but Abby came close to be captured. Luckily, I had my Bite attack that I learned before evolving to break the net. The meadow was unfortunately very open, so we didn't have that many options.

"Whoa! Oh boy." Hikaru started shaking.

"Come on, we have to get a move on." I said nudging Hikaru. That's when I decided that at this rate, we're either gonna end up captured or without a hiding place. "Look, you and Abby find a place to hide. I'll take care of the Team Rocket grunts."

"Right." Abby agreed.

The Team Rocket grunts were not too far from us when I split from Abby and Hikaru. While they were off finding a hiding place, I was going to hopefully make their jeep break down so that they couldn't follow us. I dashed over to the jeep and jumped on the front to get their attention. Now came the dangerous part. I'd have to run in front of Team Rocket's jeep and lead them away from Hikaru and Abby. I even used Quick Attack when I realized I was going too slow. Once I was far enough from the jeep, I decided to use an attack, so I fired a Shadow Ball on the jeep causing a mild explosion in the front and tipping it over.

"See ya." I scoffed before running off. I had finally caught up with Hikaru and Abby when I was able to catch a breath now. "Boy, was that epic."

"You were awfully brave out there." Abby complimented me.

"Aw, shucks." I blushed.

"There you are!" The three of us looked over to find Yami standing right in front of us. Hikaru and Abby took off to the bushes and hid in there while I remained there in contact with Yami. He turned his head a bit as if he were talking to someone else. "Here he is." Yami moved and revealed a tall Absol walking out and standing right in front of me.

"Is it true that you are the son of a Jolteon named Raiden?" He asked in a gruff voice.

"Yes." I nodded. "My name's Lune."

"Hmm, nice work, Takeshi." Absol looked up at Takeshi, who was flying above us now.

"Not a problem, Yaku! But now that I'm here, I should mention that there's a tornado coming towards us." Takeshi warned us.

"Yes. I'm aware of it." Yaku answered. "Now, where was I? Oh, that's right. A man-to-man talk with my nephew, Lune."

"Wha--? Nephew?" I asked in shock. "You're…my uncle? But that's impossible!! You're an Absol! My father's a Jolteon!"

"Oh. I guess your father never told you that his father was an Absol, but his mother was an Espeon. And he picked me out of the two of us brothers to rule Orre Forest. So, I'm happy to say that it belongs to me, not your father."

"Wait, so…I'm a prince?"

"Yes you are." Yaku snickered. "You could become king, but you would have to fight me for the throne, which you don't have a chance of accomplishing. I had hoped that you would never find this place. But now, I'm just going to have to get rid of you!" Yaku roared and leapt at me. I smoothly dodged him and tried to run the other way to escape, but Yami was cornering me.

"I've got him cornered! Get him!" Yami yelled. I heard Yaku roar as he tried to scratch me with his scythe.

"I don't want to fight you!" I yelled at my uncle. "But if it's a fight you want, then I'll give you a fight!"

After making my last comment, I started to fight against my uncle. He was awfully strong, but not as strong as my father. I'm surprised that he was picked to be king of Orre Forest. I kept trying to hit Yaku with my Iron Tail, but he'd always counter using his Night Slash attack. So, I thought I'd try something new. I used Sand-Attack on Yaku causing him to lose eyesight. He kept on panicking when he couldn't see. Then, I went on and hit him with Iron Tail. It caused him a good deal of pain. Unfortunately, the tornado that Takeshi was warning us about before was now hitting. I didn't know where Hikaru and Abby were at the moment, but I couldn't worry right now. I'm sure they were hiding someplace safe.

While the fight was still going on against my uncle. I decided to try firing a Shadow Ball at him even thought it won't do too much damage. Instead, Yaku used Detect to block Shadow Ball and then smacked me with his paw in a Sucker Punch attack. I decided to go really physical now. I started dashing at Yaku at full speed, but he dashed at me at full speed as well. I guess he knew Quick Attack. We collided with each other and caused equal amount of damage on one another. Then, I decided to try and use Bite, but he totally dodged me and used Double Team. This was not my day. Then I realized that Faint Attack never missed, so I used that on him and got him pretty good.

The fight went on for a long time and none of us were going down yet. The bad news was that the tornado was really bad now, so we had stop the fight and take cover. Even Takeshi told Yaku to take cover. I scurried around looking for a place to hide. There probably weren't anymore because all of the other little Pokemon probably took the rest of the hiding places. This was probably worse than an Absol's Razor Wind attack. Well, great. Now where am I supposed to go during this tornado. That's when I decided to try and find Abby and Hikaru.

"Guys! Abby! Hikaru!" I called out their names.

"Lune!" Abby called my name from a burrow. "There's room for one more in here!"

"Thanks." I thanked them.

We waited for a while until the tornado had calmed down. Thankfully, not much was destroyed. Only a few trees had been chopped up into a billion pieces, but other than that, everything was fine. At least, I thought everything was fine. When I stepped out of the burrow, I realized that Yami and Takeshi were pushing on a tree as hard as they could. It turned out that Yaku was stuck under a collapsed tree! I ran over just to make sure that he was alright. While Yami and Takeshi were pushing the tree, Yaku was struggling. He sounded like he was having a lot of trouble breathing.

"Come on! Hurry up and push!" Yaku yelled in pain.

"We're trying!" Takeshi complained.

"Yeah! It's not like we're Machoke or anything!" Yami agreed. I watched him struggle. He may have been a bastard to me, but he was still my uncle.

"Guys, I should help them out."

"Yeah, but…" Hikaru agreed.

"He tried to kill you."

"I know." I sighed. "But, he's just worried that I'm here to steal his place as king, which I'm not. I just need a place to live is all. Maybe he'll have a whole different opinion if I help him."

"Well, go ahead and give it your best shot." Abby said. I nodded in agreement and walked over towards the tree.

"Move over, guys. I got this." I said to Yami and Takeshi.

There was only one easy way to do this. I backed up and charged at the tree using Take Down. Every time I used this move, the tree would budge little by little as it would slowly roll off of Yaku's body. His ability to breath got easier and easier each time too, so I knew this was working. After one last Take Down attack, the whole tree was off of Yaku. He got up off of the ground coughing and catching his breath from the tree cutting off his circulation. Yaku walked over to where our burrow was and took a seat. I walked over there and joined my uncle.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." Yaku answered. "Lune, you saved my life."

"Well, I couldn't just let you die like that. We're family." I chuckled. That's when I realized something. Why didn't I feel this way about my father?

"Well, I guess you're right about that." He chuckled and ruffled the hair on my head with his paw. "But I'm still afraid that you can't have the throne."

"I don't want the throne. That's what I've been trying to tell you. All I want is a place to live."

"Oh. Whoops."

"And now, Yaku, since he saved your life, you owe him a favor." Takeshi interrupted.

"It is the law of Orre Forest." Hikaru added in.

"The Pikachu's right. It is the law." Yami agreed.

"Very well." Yaku sighed. "So, I guess if you change your mind about the throne, now's a good time to say so."

"I want…I want…I want peace in Orre Forest. I want you to be nice and keep the forest at peace. That's the favor." I answered.

"Really? That's it?" He asked in shock. I nodded. "Very well then. If that's what you wish, then I'll be a whole different king and I'll keep the forest at peace. It's a promise from Uncle to Nephew."

"Thanks, Yaku…uh…I mean…Uncle Yaku." I grinned. Uncle Yaku and I nuzzled for the first time.

"Well, I'll see you later, then."

"Right." I nodded. Then, I walked over to Abby and Hikaru. "So, I guess I'll see you guys later as well."

"What?" Abby and Hikaru both asked.

"I'm going home to Orre Forest."

"No problem, we'll show you the way!" Hikaru said jumping onto Abby's back. I looked at them questioningly.

"We live in Orre Forest. We'll show you the way. This is Orre Meadow, so the forest is not too far off." Abby grinned.

"Really? You will?" I asked with excitement.

"Of course!" Abby nodded. "We're friends, right?"

I nodded as the three of us ran off on the path to my new home. This was going to be the start of a new friendship.

**Author's Note: Phew! It was a lot longer than the first one! Don't worry! Espeon will be coming in soon!**


	3. Morning Sun

**Author's Note: Yay! I'm back from writer's block! Sorry for the writer's block, but more is here! Enjoy!**

Chapter 3: Morning Sun

"Hey! Wait up you guys!" I called out to Abby as she and Hikaru ran ahead of me.

I couldn't have been that slow of a Pokemon. I'm an Umbreon for crying out loud. They're supposed to have better speed than a Bayleef that's for sure. Maybe I was just out of shape or something. I followed them through the woods as we made our way to the Orre Forest. I couldn't believe it. I was going to be there, in Orre Forest, any time now. All I had to do was worry about losing my patience. Unfortunately, there were many Pokemon that kept on getting in our way because we were apparently going through their territories, but they were just going to have to deal with it.

Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. I ran at full speed past Abby and Hikaru hoping that it wasn't that much farther till we reached the forest. Just as I was reaching the exit of Orre Woods, I felt something grab wrap around and grab onto my legs. I tripped and fell straight onto my stomach. Abby and Hikaru laughed behind me. I got up and shook the dirt off of me. So, they think that's funny, huh? I'll get them back someday. I looked down and saw Abby's vines at my feet. She must've wanted me to slow down or she just wanted to tease me about my impatient nature.

"What gives?" I asked.

"First of all, slow down. And second of all, we thought it'd be nice to have an introductory chat while we continue our way." Abby answered as she caught up to me.

"Besides, we have plenty of time. Enjoy the breeze." Hikaru sighed.

"I can enjoy it in the forest."

"Well, for starters, we'd also like point out that just because it's paradise at Orre Forest doesn't mean it's the safest place."

"What do you mean?" I sat down getting interested now.

"For example," Abby started. "The Pokemon residents of Orre Forest are very territorial. Meaning that if you wander onto someone else's territory, prepare to either get into a very big cat fight, a loud argument, or get chased away."

"But, Taka can take care of that if it becomes a big issue." Hikaru added in.

"Who's Taka?" I asked him.

"He's also known as 'Lucario the Wise'. He's very wise and helps people solve problems. If he needs guidance, he'll turn to Celebi, the voice of the forest. So, he's pretty much like one of those guys who live in these huge buildings and get on their hands and knees and pray."

"A priest?" I guessed.

"Exactly." Abby nodded in reply.

"Well, then it can't be too dangerous to live there, can it?"

"I'm not saying that it's very dangerous, I'm just saying that you better be cautious."

"Right. Now, can we please go?" I asked getting up.

"Hikaru, time to go home." Abby said running ahead of me.

Hikaru and Abby went up to the exit of the woods and showed me what was outside. I gazed at the beautiful sights that I saw. There were trees, streams, caves, burrows, and I could even see a waterfall in the distance. This place was amazing. It was the kind of place that I had always seen in my dreams. My lips curved into a large smile as I dashed away from the woods through the forest. I was actually running on the bright, green grass of my dream home. My family sure was missing out on one of the greatest places I've ever seen on the planet.

I looked around at all of the Pokemon that lived here. Pachirisu and Pidgey were living in the trees. Sandshrew and Aron were living underground. Larger Pokemon such as Ninetales and Houndoom were living in larger homes like caves, plains, and burrows. One of the first things I was hoping to do was get to know a bunch of other Pokemon and make some friends with the residents here, but then I realized that if I didn't find a home sooner or later then the next Pokemon walking in could take it before me.

I decided to try starting off near the woods and then working my way in. So far, it wasn't going well at all. When Abby and Hikaru said that Pokemon were territorial, they weren't kidding at all. I nearly got killed just for asking a Manectric if she knew where the nearest vacant cave was. Apparently, she thought I was going after her little Electrike babies. Then, I got chased away by a mother Donphan and then a Gyarados tried to swallow me whole when I approached the lake he lived in. Well, actually I should've known about the Gyarados having a tantrum issue.

I sighed as I sat in the middle of the plains. Well, now that I'm here, I have no place to live in. This may be my dream home, but I'd at least like a place to sleep in, but everything seems to be occupied. Looks like I was going to have to sleep in the middle of everything. It was going to be awkward since I wouldn't have a cave to cover my head during the rain and snowfall. My stomach started growling. That also reminded me that I would have no place to store food for the winter considering that's when food is very scarce. Just as I was about to give up, I heard a voice.

"Hey you!" A voice called from above me. "You look like you're in trouble!" I looked up and saw a Swellow soaring above me. He swooped down right past me and landed on a rock that I was sitting near. "You okay, bud?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"What's up with that look on your face?" He asked.

"Well, I came a long way here hoping that I would live here in peace, but as it turns out, I don't have a home. I can't even find a home to live in."

"A home? No problem! Come with me!" The Swellow started rising into the sky again. "By the way, what do they call you?"

"I'm Lune."

"Name's Avis. Come on, I'll find you a home."

"Really? You will?"

I laughed as I followed Avis as he flew all the way through the plains. It appeared that the home that he was talking about was going to be up on a huge hill, which would actually be nice since I wouldn't have to worry about hearing a whole bunch of noises in the evenings and early mornings while I'm sleeping there. After walking up the large hill I gasped at what I saw. It was indeed a beautiful cave. I walked in and checked it out. It wasn't as dark as I had expected caves to be.

"What do you think?" Avis asked walking in.

"It's beautiful. Thank you so much."

"My pleasure." He then gasped while looking at me. "You have a really bad mark on your forehead."

"Oh, this?" I realized he was talking about my scratch. "It's nothing, really."

"It looks deep and fresh. You should have Nurse Joy take a look at it." With that, Avis flew off. A few minutes later, he came back with a Chansey that had a little white cap on her head with a red cross on the front of it. "Here's the patient, Nurse Joy."

"Alright Lune, let me take a look at that." Joy said as she eyed my scratch carefully. "It's nothing serious, but it will leave a scar."

"Okay, thanks." I thanked her before she put a little medicine on it.

"This is from Hayden's tree. She and her group of Heracross are really good at making medicine. They suck up the sap from the tree and then mix it with different vitamins and minerals from herbs and plants. This medicine will make sure that your scar doesn't get infected. The Bug-type Pokemon tend to carry viruses that make other Pokemon sick and can cause infections to any cuts or sores. Oh, and if it stings or starts throbbing, go soak your head in the river. Other than that, you should be all set. If you need me, I'll be at the stone temple across the river."

"I will. And I'll be sure to look for you if me or any of my friends are hurt." With that, Joy left my new home leaving Avis and I alone. He perched on top of a rock inside of the cave.

"Well, I'm not telling you to do this today, but tomorrow, you should start looking."

"For what?" I asked.

"Duh! It's Spring! That means it's mating season for the Pokemon of Orre Forest. If you don't want to be alone, then you'd better start searching for your soul mate before all of the good ones are taken." Avis informed me. That's right, mating season was in Spring.

"Well, I don't know right now." I said walking out of my cave to get some fresh air. "I actually don't want to find a mate just because it's mating season. I want the perfect mate. She'll come along someday. When the time is right, I'll find her."

"Good luck with that." Avis said before flying off.

I was pretty tired from the long journey from my original home to the forest. Plus, it was getting late. The sky was darkening and the stars were starting to come out. I yawned showing my exhaustion. That's when I decided that maybe I should get some sleep. Besides, I have kind of a big day tomorrow. I was going to have to go around the place and get used to my surroundings. Plus, I think I might take Avis' advice somehow. I don't want to necessarily search for a soul mate, but if I see a female nearby, I'll see how the chemistry is and if it doesn't work, well, then it doesn't work out. Thinking about the day I had tomorrow, I went into my cave and fell asleep.

--

Morning already? I thought to myself. I had slept so much last night, that I didn't even want to get up that morning. The only thing that did get me up was that my stomach was growling. Looks like it was time for me to fetch my breakfast. Unfortunately, I didn't know any good spots to hunt, so I figured that I would go see Hikaru and Abby and see what they suggest. While struggling, I stood up on all fours and stretched myself out. I was pretty dusty from sleeping on hard ground all night, so I shook myself out before walking out of the cave to greet the morning.

I had realized while walking down the hill that my cave was located on, that I didn't know where Abby and Hikaru lived, so it looked like I was going to have to find this out for myself. I figured that this would be a good time to ask any female Eevee evolutions where the best hunting spots are. That'd give me a chance to see if she's the right one for me or not. Right now, I couldn't see that many, but that's just probably because of my location. Boy, this was going to take a while just to find myself something to eat.

Ever since I left the cave, a half an hour passed by and no luck. I probably saw only two female Eevee evolutions and they were both taken already. On the other hand, I did find some good looking prey, but I wasn't able to catch them because either they'd escape or someone else would catch them first. I decided to take a break from all of this hunting. There was a lake nearby me, so I planted myself on the ground and started to drink the icy cold water.

Strangely, I thought I noticed something while I was drinking. It didn't seem like a something, actually. It was more of a someone. I thought I saw the reflection of a Pokemon. Not just any Pokemon, but a female Eevee evolution. The ripples I made with my drinking made it hard to see who she was. She seemed in a hurry though, because she just suddenly ran off somewhere else when I stopped drinking to get a better look at her reflection. I looked up from the water to see if I could get a better look of her, but no one was there by the time I made contact. I just shrugged it off before I walked off.

"Hey Lune!" Hikaru called from up ahead.

"Hikaru!" I ran up to him. "It's a good thing you're here. I need a good place to hunt, but I don't know the place very well, so you think you could help me?"

"Dream on, desperado."

"What?"

"Kidding! Of course I will. But here's a tip, stay out of the meadow. There isn't much to hunt there since that's where humans like to catch Pokemon. So, focus here. Did you try open fields?" Hikaru asked as we started walking through the place.

"Not really."

"Try there. It's pretty open, so there aren't many places for Pokemon to hide there, really. Or, an even easier way would be to catch fish from the lakes and rivers. Even if a lot of the Pokemon here eat fish, there are loads of fish. Heck, they reproduce like every day. So, just stick with those areas out there."

I was able to hear what Hikaru was saying, it's just a matter of whether I was paying attention or not. The truth was, I wasn't paying any attention. I saw the same girl that I saw in the lake's reflection. She was running really quickly. I wondered why. She looked like it was something very urgent and important. I still couldn't exactly tell what Pokemon she was, but she was a very bright purple color. So, she must've been an Espeon. I've never seen that many Espeon in my lifetime. The only ones I've seen were my grandmother and my cousin, he was a shiny Espeon. To be quite honest, I thought she looked quite attractive.

"Lune!" Hikaru yelled in my ear.

"Huh?"

"Were you listening?"

"Yeah."

"Well, there you go! There's nothing much to it now. Just find your food now."

Hikaru took off afterwards leaving me to hunt alone. I sighed as I put my nose to work to try and sniff out some prey. It wasn't working out very well. I wasn't getting anything. The only thing I could sniff was the morning dew from the grass. However, something triggered my senses like crazy. It was a sweet scent. It wasn't anything I've ever sniffed before. I wanted to follow it, so I followed my instincts. I took off following the scent. It led me through some woods and would probably take me out to the meadow where there wasn't any prey, but I didn't think that I was going to end up catching anything by following this scent.

When I finished sprinting through the woods, I came across a valley. The valley was huge. Especially the cliffs. They must've been at least 100 feet tall. I walked around gazing at the amazing sights. My attention was focused when I noticed something. It was the same girl that I had been seeing all morning long. The one whose reflection was in the lake, and who I saw running through the fields not too long ago. She was an Espeon without a doubt. She was standing at the edge of a cliff. I gasped at how close she was to falling. What was she thinking? She could get hurt. I had to do something. I jogged over to where she was and spoke up before anything else could happen.

"Hey! Stand back a few steps!" I called out to her. She turned her head to me slightly until I could see the corner of her eyes.

"Why should I?" The girl snapped back. Damn, she certainly had an attitude.

"Because, you'll get hurt." I walked closer to her.

"Just go away and leave me alone!" She yelled angrily.

"Look, I could be wrong, but it looks like you're going to jump off this cliff and I'm not going to back off and let you do that."

"Then I'll make you move!" The red gem on her forehead began to glow. It looked like she was getting a Psybeam attack ready.

"Well, that'd be wasting your energy since Psychic attacks are useless against my type."

"Then just buzz off and let me be!"

"I'm telling you, if you jump off that cliff, the we're both gonna go down."

"What do you mean?" She asked questioningly.

"If you jump off, then I'll have to jump in order to save you." I answered. She was silent.

"Just turn around and walk back. You'll feel much better."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Just trust me." I said softly.

The girl, who was facing away from me moved her paws back a bit. She stood up and turned her attention in my direction. When she turned around to walk towards me, her back paw suddenly slipped off the edge of the cliff and she went falling. I gasped as I saw her dangling from the cliff holding on for her life. She panicked as I trotted over to where she was hanging from. I told her to calm down, but it wasn't working. I leaned myself over the cliff to grab her, but as I did, her paws slipped and started to fall freely. Luckily, I was able to grab her by the back of her neck. It was hard to hang onto her since she was about my size, but I was able to pull it off. I pulled her up and over until she was on flat land again.

She was lying down on the ground panting with fear. I was sitting right above her panting myself at the thought of her actually falling all the way down to the bottom. She looked up and I looked down. We made eye contact for the first time. There she was, the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, right at my feet looking into my eyes with her eyes that were shiny like diamonds. I could've sworn that I started blushing because I could see that she was blushing too. We stared at each other for a minute. The girl then stood up and started backing away from me.

"I'm sorry. I have to go." She took off running back into the woods. I didn't bother to follow her since I felt that she had a rough enough time with the cliff incident.

"Hey, Lune!" I looked up to the sky and saw Avis flying down towards me. "How has your morning been?"

"Awkward." I answered sitting down.

"Find any good places to hunt, yet?"

"Not quite." I sighed. "Avis, how much of the forest's population do you know?"

"Quite a good chunk of it. My family and I have been living in this forest for three generations and other Pokemon know me really well because of it."

"Well, listen. Do you know who that Espeon is?" I pointed my head in the direction she ran.

"The one that just took off running?" Avis asked. I nodded. "Her name is Solana. She isn't seen with others that often. The only Pokemon she has for a friend is an Illumise named Lucy."

"Why?"

"She's had a rough life. Her childhood was rough and so is her current young adulthood. Poor creature. She's got such a great personality and would seem like the type that would love to be with everybody."

"I guess she's just insecure. I was insecure when I was a child because of how badly my old man treated me. She's afraid of getting hurt."

"Probably." Avis agreed. "Why are you asking about her?"

"Well…I…uh…" I struggled to say what I needed to say.

"I see. You must be in love with her?"

"I wouldn't call it love. I haven't really met her. I'm just interested in her."

"Well, it's great that you're interested…" Avis began as he flew on top of a rock in front of me. "…but whatever you do, don't fall in love with her."

"Why not?"

"It's not my place to say. But, if you are interested in getting to know her, then you have to show her that you're not a bad guy."

"Sounds great, but how do I do that? For some reason, Solana was trying to jump off of a cliff and I saved her life. Isn't that good enough." I asked.

"Anybody can save a life, but betray that same life later. If you need help, go ask for advice from Taka."

"You mean, 'Lucario the Wise'? That Taka?"

"Yep." Avis flew through the woods and I chased after him hoping that he was going to show me where Taka lived. My Swellow friend perched on a stump just right outside the woods and pointed his beak towards a stone temple. "That's where he lives."

"I thought that's where Nurse Joy lived?"

"It is. They both live there. Joy lives in the bottom temple and Taka lives in the upper temple. He feels that living on the upper temple will give him a stronger connection with Celebi if he needs guidance. Plus, Joy is closer to the medicines if she needs to give some to another Pokemon."

"Okay, I'll go see him right now." I thanked Avis.

"I wouldn't waste your time." I stopped in my tracks giving him a questioning look. "He's not usually there during the day. Taka is usually out and about during daylight hours. He does counseling and goes around blessing the other Pokemon. However, he's always in the temple during twilight and nighttime hours. He stays there in case a Pokemon comes to the temple late at night requesting prayer. You should go see him tonight. He always welcomes visitors."

"Okay, I will, and thanks a lot." I thanked him again.

"Good luck, kid." Avis wished me luck before flying off again.

I returned to my home realizing that I still hadn't had breakfast yet. So, I went back to my hunting while I waited for the sun to go down for my visit with Taka.

**Author's Note: Again, sorry for the writer's block! I hope you enjoyed this and please leave a review! I enjoy hearing feedback!**


	4. Power, Wisdom, and Courage

**Author's Note: Finally! I'm back from writer's block! Anyway, here's finally the next chapter!**

Chapter 4: Courage, Wisdom, and Power

**Lune's POV**

The sun was setting by the time I had caught my dinner. I was quite hungry, but I had to meet with Taka over in the temple. I needed to get there before everyone else got to him first. So, I figured I'd head over to the temple right about now. I trotted down the hill where my cave was located and down to where I saw Hikaru and Abby chilling out under a tree. I actually had some time until Taka would return to the temple, so I decided to hang out with them for a while.

"You cheated, Abby!" Hikaru yelled.

"How do you cheat on tic-tac-toe?" She asked. I joined the conversation.

"So, I see you guys are arguing over a dumb game."

"Hey! I heard that you found yourself a girl." Hikaru said teasingly.

"Not quite."

"What do you mean? Are you THAT picky on choosing a mate?" Abby asked.

"It's not that, it's just that…I haven't really met her. We exchanged a few not-so-decent words with each other, but that's it."

"Did you get her name?"

"Avis told me her name was Solana. Beautiful name." I sighed unknowingly.

"Aww, looks like our buddy has a crush." Hikaru cooed.

"Hold on a sec, I can't call it a crush. I'm just interested in her. Besides, I can't exactly fall in love with her."

"Why not?" Abby asked with a questioning look. "It's called 'free will'."

"I don't know. Avis made it seem like it was very personal. So, he's sending me to Taka for some advice." That's when I looked up and realized the sun was lower than usual. "Gotta go, guys. Catch you later."

I got up and dashed off to the temple. I would've gone all the way there if I didn't get distracted, but I did. As I was heading to the temple, I looked over and saw Solana. She was sitting over at the almost moonlit lake just staring into it. She looked really sad for some reason. It was how she was when I first saved her. I wanted to say something, but after what happened today, I didn't dare to make a solid step towards her. Instead, I figured I'd lay down on the small hill I was one and just stare down at her. She looked to be mumbling something to herself.

* * *

**Solana's POV**

"Who was that guy?" I asked myself.

I seriously couldn't stop thinking about that Umbreon I sort of met earlier. I didn't even get his name. Although, I couldn't really blame him for that. I was kind of a bitch to him when all he was doing was asking me if I was okay. I remember the tender look he had on his face when he saved my life. Still, looks can be very deceiving. That's how it was for Koki when he and I were together. That just goes to show that you can't trust anybody! Especially males that you've never even met before!

"Solana!" I looked up and saw my little Illumise friend flying down towards me.

"Hey, where have you been, Lucy?" I asked.

"Oh my gosh! I just met the most wonderful Volbeat ever!"

"Really?"

"Yes! He's perfect!" Lucy sighed. "Solana, I think I'm in love! Hey, if we get married, Flora and Sakura could be the flower girls!!! And Uta and Kane could sing at our wedding!" Lucy also said referring to some of my other friends.

"Just don't get to cocky about him. You never know what could happen."

"Solana, I know it's been about a few months since…"

"Shh, I don't want to talk about it. I'm still trying to get over it."

"Okay. But anyway, that shouldn't stop you from finding a mate." Lucy explained.

"It's just…it's…so hard to trust others nowadays." My eyes teared up.

"You trust me. You trust Taka. You trust King Yaku."

"I know, but you've been my best friend since I was an Eevee. Taka is a wise Lucario that I know I can look up to. King Yaku, well, he's old, so I obviously don't have to worry about becoming his mate. Other than that, it's just…hard."

"Well, I know you'll get your faith back…someday." Lucy said as she placed one of her small arms on my shoulder. I grinned at my best friend as I leaned my head down to the lake to have a drink.

Maybe Lucy was right. It had been a few months since my little…never mind, I won't get into that. Anyway, like she said, I shouldn't let that get in the way of finding a mate. I don't have faith. I need to have faith. It's seeing with my eyes and believing with my heart. That's not how it was for me. I'd see with my heart and believe what my eyes had told me. Maybe I didn't give that Umbreon much of a chance. I probably won't ever see him again, not after the way I just ran away from him. If I ever see him again, I'll be sure to get his name and to thank him for saving my life.

And to be honest, he was quite attractive.

* * *

**Lune's POV**

I had hoped to hear what Solana and that one Illumise were talking about, but that would make me a stalker and that wouldn't help me one bit. Plus, the sun was fully set and the moon was shining brightly. I gazed at how beautiful the moon's bright light was. Okay, no more distractions. I had to get over to the temple to see Taka right away. I dashed off towards the temple with my golden markings glowing brightly to help me see a lot easier. After a little while, I finally arrived at the large, tall temple. At least we know that the temple won't be hard to find.

The place was filled with lit up torches. I took a peak inside of the bottom level of the temple. Joy was helping a little Squirtle who hurt his leg. I thought I might check in and see if she has anything else to say about my scar across my face. After I asked, she simply said that it's permanent. Now, it was time to make my way all the way to the top of the temple. There were stairs to climb, so that way the larger and heavier Pokemon wouldn't have to jump up there. I walked up the large stairs and caught my breath when I was at the top since there were at least 50 steps.

When I was at the top, I saw a wise Lucario kneeling behind a large campfire. It looked like he was creating images in the fire. A Pidgeotto was asking Taka if her little baby Pidgey would be alright. I'm assuming that her baby was either sick or injured. Taka was moving his hands around the fire and the images looked like a baby Pidgey prancing around and some sort of weird symbol. I thought it was amazing the way he was doing this. I didn't know any Pokemon except Pychic types could do this. I guess Taka taught himself to use the move Psychic because his eyes were glowing blue as he was playing with the fire.

"Good woman," Taka said in a deep, husky voice. "Your child will be in great health by dawn on the ides of April."

"Thank you. Thank you much." The Pidgeotto happily flapped her wings and flew out past me. There was nobody else here, so it was my turn.

"Ah, young Lune." Taka greeted me before I could even say a word.

"How do you know who I am?"

"Avis mentioned that you'd pay me a visit at this night's full moon." He answered speaking in a way that I've never spoken before.

"Y-Yeah. Anyway, I've come here to ask you something, if…that's alright with you."

"Oh, please do, young one. But first…" Taka grabbed a small stone "bowl" full of bright green liquid and placed it in front of me. "…drink this. The Tea of Celebi shows great wisdom and strength and shall bring great fortune to souls who are cleansed by the holiness of this magnificent creature."

"Does this happen every time I come in here?" I asked out of curiosity.

"That, my friend, is up to Celebi."

"Okay." I said nervously. I drank the tea and, to my surprise, I felt like a whole different Pokemon inside.

"Have you been cleansed?" He asked. I nodded and he took the bowl away. "Now, speak."

"Well, you see, I'm…kind of…interested in this Espeon that I met earlier today. Her name is Solana…and…I've been told…not to fall in love with her. Why?" I told him my story in an embarrassing way.

"Ah, Solana. That poor creature."

"Why? Is everything okay with her?"

"I'm afraid not, my son." Taka got up and walked over to what looked like a statue of Celebi. He kneeled down in front of it. "Our voice of the forest, Celebi, led that young and innocent Espeon to my counseling. Why? I knew not. The voice of the forest works in mysterious ways and I thank thee, Celebi."

"So, what's wrong with Solana?" I asked hoping he'd get straight to the answer.

"Allow me." Taka said grabbing an herb and throwing it into the fire. His eyes started to glow blue and he started to play around with the fire. I'm guessing I'll be able to see what actually happened in the fire. "This is her story."

(A/N: Okay, for this next part, this will be told in Taka's POV. The dialogue in this part will be what Lune see in the fire.)

* * *

Solana…was born just like any other Eevee was. She was born in the Sinnoh region. Her life was magnificent. Her parents, Hojo, a wise and strong Leafeon, and Istas, a beautiful Glaceon, they loved her more than anything life had to offer. Her best friend, Lucy, cared for her deeply as did Solana care for her too. She grew up with a magnificent life. When she grew up, she met the love of her life. He was a handsome, strong, and grand Manectric, Koki.

Koki and Solana met when Koki got his foot stuck in a Diglett hole. She happened to walk by and see his foot stuck. So, she stopped by and helped Koki get his foot out of the hole. Afterwards, they laughed about it and became closer and closer and closer each day. Eventually, they fell in love.

Solana: Is your foot okay?

Koki: (shaking his fur out) Yeah, it's better now.

Solana: (sneezes after some of Koki's fur gets to her face)

Koki: (laughs)

Solana: (blushes) My name's Solana.

Koki: I'm Koki.

Solana: So, are you doing anything later tonight?

Koki: Nope, but if you want to do something tonight, then I'll have plans.

Solana: (blushes) Okay, why don't we hang out over near Lake Verity.

Koki: It's a date.

Unfortunately, Solana was thinking of everything opposite of what Koki was thinking. He was thinking of making Solana his mate permanently while she was thinking of only love. So, one day, he asked her to become his mate.

Koki: Solana…

Solana: Yes, Koki?

Koki: We've been together for quite a while…and…I just wanted to ask…if…you'd become…my mate?

Solana: Oh my gosh, Koki…

Koki: (smiling) So, will you?

Solana: (sighs) Koki, it sounds wonderful. It really does, but I just don't feel like I'm ready to get married yet.

For the first time in her life, Solana had gone through what was worse than life itself. Koki was enraged by her answer. He had quite a temper and lost it. He started beating her, not stopping even to take a rest. They were so in love and he just turned his back and stabbed her in the back. She tried to speak to her parents about it, but it didn't do any good.

Solana: (crying) Mom! Dad!

Istas: What, honey? What's wrong?

Solana: (sobbing) It's Koki…he just went…crazy!

Hojo: Oh, you guys probably just had a little argument and you're over exaggerating.

Solana: No! He asked me to marry him and when I said no, he just went crazy and started beating on me for no reason!

Istas: (shocked) I thought you loved him.

Hojo: Yeah, we liked him too.

Solana: I know. I _used_ to love him, but I didn't feel I was ready to get married! That's moving too quick and I'm still young!

Hojo: So wait, he asked you to marry him and you refused! (anger building) How could you do something like that! When a man asks a woman to be his mate, you DO NOT refuse! A woman is honored when a man asks her to marry him!

Solana: (angry) I will not marry because I got lucky! I will marry the one Pokemon I want to spend the rest of my life with! And that is not your decision, it's mine!

Hojo: Don't you take that tone with me, young lady!

Solana: I'm not a child anymore!

Hojo: But you're MY child. And if you are, MY child, you will treat me with respect and obey when you're told to obey!

Solana: I will refuse to obey an order that can change my life forever!

Hojo: (raging) Then I refuse to call you MY daughter!

Solana: I would much rather live alone for the rest of my life rather than in this pile of shit you call home!

Istas: Solana, you watch your language!

Solana: No!

Hojo: You will do as your mother says!

Solana: I thought I wasn't your daughter anymore!

Hojo: Fine! Then get out of here, NOW!

Solana had finally left her childhood home after that dreadful fight with her mother and father. Your uncle, Yaku, had found her and showed her the way here to Orre Forest. She told him what happened and he offered to look after her until she was okay again. Her friend, Lucy, found her there too. It appeared that Solana was depressed out what had happened back at her home. Yaku had noticed this too and brought her to me. It appeared that Celebi was watching over her. She told her story and I listened. I prayed to Celebi that I could help her depression and I was answered. She would get better, little by little, as each day had passed.

* * *

**Lune's POV**

I was shocked at Solana's story. So she went through the same thing that I did with my family? The only difference was that my dad was just a filthy bastard and her father was upset over the fact that she refused marriage. It's true. She is very insecure. Solana doesn't want to get hurt again. She's afraid that if she gives her heart to another guy, that he's eventually going to hurt her. Now that I think about it, I wasn't really the friendliest guy to her when I first saw her. I didn't even say hello. I just went straight to demanding her to get away from that cliff, but she was on the verge of killing herself!

Once Taka had finished his story, the images in the fire had returned to normal. Unfortunately, I still needed advice on how I can prove to Solana that I'm not just one of those jackass guys that treat their girls like dirt like Koki did. Taka had sat back down and held his hand out allowing me to speak. I didn't know what to say, honestly. Except for, I now know what Solana has gone through and how it felt too.

"Taka…I don't know what to say." I said looking down.

"Of course, young one. That is what another soul's history should affect you." Taka nodded his head.

"So, I can't fall in love with Solana because she's insecure?"

"Yes, indeed. However, there is a way."

"Well, Avis told me that one way is to prove to Solana that I'm not as bad as she thinks I am. How do I do that?"

"If you're going to prove yourself worthy to Solana. You must have three virtues." He took a green herb and threw it in there. "Courage." Then, he threw a blue feather in there. "Wisdom." After that, he threw in a red flower. "And power."

"Huh?"

"Courage…" Taka threw another green herb. I looked into the fire and saw myself appear in there. "You must show that you have courage. That you would give your life for her. That you have the courage to stand up for yourself. You must have the courage to share your words of wisdom with her." Afterwards, Taka threw in another blue feather. "Wisdom…share your words of wisdom with her. It's better to open up rather than keep your thoughts of wisdom within." Finally, Taka brought in another red flower and threw it in there. "Power…the true power lies within the heart. That power, young lad, you must find out on your own…together."

"What do you mean?" I asked not understanding.

"You and Solana are the only ones that can find out the true power within." With that, the fire got smaller and returned to its normal color.

"So, that's it?"

"That is all I can give to you. Now, take action." Taka waved his arm over to the entrance of the temple where he escorted me out.

Power, Wisdom, and Courage? It sounds kind of confusing to me right now, but I guess I'll figure it out later. I walked down the hundred steps to find Hikaru and Abby waiting under a tree for me. How'd they know I was here? I guess it was a little something called common sense. Avis did mention that a lot of Pokemon like to visit Taka at night if they've been out all day. I stopped at the bottom of the steps and sat myself down in front of my friends.

"So, what'd he say?" Hikaru asked.

"He said something about power, wisdom, and courage. He said something about me needing those things if I'm going to earn Solana's trust." I answered.

"Sounds like you've got some work to do." Abby sighed as she rubbed her forehead with one of her vines.

"Yep, it's gonna take time, I know that."

"Why don't you just go and ask the girl out and make it simple?" Hikaru blurted out. Abby smacked him on the head.

"Because, she's been through a lot of emotional pain throughout her youth…just like me."

"Well, at least you two already have something in common." Abby pointed out.

"I guess." I sighed. "So, tomorrow, I guess I'll have to take those plans into action."

"Yes, but remember, take it slowly. Taking it fast will only draw her further away from you."

"Right." I nodded as I stood up to go home for the evening.

Tomorrow, all of my questions get answered. Is Taka's plan going to bring us closer or further apart?

**Author's Note: Yes!!! I finally got this chapter done! Next one should be up soon!**


	5. Sneaking In

**Author's Note: Not much to say. I've been on vacation for my spring break, but was able to squeeze in a chapter, so here ya go!**

Chapter 5: Sneaking In

**Solana's POV**

"Oh Solana!" Lucy called for me from a distance. Damn, I was just about to take the first bit of the Rattata I just caught.

"Yes, Lucy?" I asked.

"I hope you're in a good mood because I need you to come!"

"Come to what?"

"Lucy's wedding!" Two young Chimecho chimed right behind me giving me spook. They were my friends, Kane and Uta. They were twin brother and sister.

"We're singing!" Uta blushed as she thought of her singing voice.

"And we're the flower girls!" I looked over and saw a few more of my friends, Flora, a Sunflora and Sakura, a Cherrim. "I hope you love sunflowers! I'll be throwing sunflower petals!"

"No way, Flora!" Sakura interrupted her. "She'll love my cherry blossoms MUCH more!"

"Isn't this Lucy's choice?" I asked.

"Yeah, but they want to make sure that you come." Kane replied with a voice that was high enough to be mistaken as a female's voice.

I sighed at the thought of actually going to a wedding. I never really cared about going to weddings for some reason. I never thought I'd actually have to go to one. However, Lucy was my best friend, and this was going to be her big day. So, I guess the best choice would be for me to show up and show support towards her and her Volbeat mate. Still, I just can't understand why I truly don't care. An average female Pokemon would go crazy over their best friend's wedding, but not me. I couldn't tell Lucy that, not after all we've been through.

"Okay, fine, I'll go." I sighed and finally gave in.

"Yay! I need you especially to be there because you're my maid of honor!" Lucy jumped up and down.

"Uh…really?" I asked nervously. Great, not only do I have to go to a wedding, but I have to stand in front of Pokemon that I probably don't even know.

"Maid of honor is the best job yet!" Uta said floating around in circles. "She gets to hold onto the Heart Scale!"

"The Heart Scale?"

"It's pretty much a Pokemon's wedding ring." Sakura clarified it for me.

"When two Pokemon want to get married, they go to Lucario the Wise to get the marriage blessed by Celebi and then the male is sent on a vigorous journey to find a Heart Scale." Flora told me the short story.

"Why? What's the point of going on a death-threatening journey?" I asked not understanding the whole concept.

"The point is to prove the male's love for his mate." Kane answered.

"What about the females? Don't they have to do anything?"

"Nope. Well, at least for the wedding we don't." Lucy answered. "Instead, we bear children! So, anyway, you get to hold the Heart Scale until the groom is ready to present it!"

"Well…that sounds…fun." I lied. Now I know why they call it the maid of honor. It's the bridesmaid that does all of the work while the others stand and watch.

I excused myself from my group of friends walked down to the lake. This wasn't going to be fun at all, I thought to myself. Still, I had to go. Lucy couldn't just pick another maid of honor. I've already been chosen. Besides, if I had a wedding, Lucy would go to it even if she hated weddings. What's the point of imagining that? After what happened a while ago, there's no way I'll end up in a lifelong relationship. There's just no way. Then again, I still want to find the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with, but there's just no one in the world like that for me. They're for all of the other girls.

"What's wrong, Solana? You look so glum." Lucy joined me.

"Well, to be quite honest…" I had to tell her the truth. "…I don't want to go to the wedding. I don't even like weddings."

"Oh. I'm really sorry. If I had known, I would've asked another girl to be the maid of honor." Lucy seemed okay, but I knew deep down that she was upset. "You don't have to go if you don't want to. I understand."

"No, it's not okay. You're my best friend, Lucy. If I was getting married, you'd go to my wedding whether you like weddings or not. I think I can sacrifice one evening to celebrate my best friend's marriage."

"Solana, you're a great Pokemon. You know that?" Lucy grinned and hugged me. I nuzzled her back.

"Well, when's the wedding?" I asked.

"Tonight! Everything's decorated and the ceremony begins at sunset and the reception begins afterwards at night! Come with me, we have to get ready."

"Works for me." I got up and followed Lucy over to where the wedding was going to take place.

I had that feeling in my gut that something amazing would happen tonight, though.

* * *

**Lune's POV**

The forest isn't that big. Where could she be? I looked all over the place for Solana and haven't been able to find her. I sound like a stalker, but I was taught that when a man wants a woman, and she's single, then it's time to pounce. Wait! What am I saying? I don't exactly _want_ her. I just want to get to know her. Crap, if I ever do find her, I better not say anything that screws this up for me. It has been three days since I've seen Taka and I'm starting to think that maybe Solana knows about this plan somehow and is trying to avoid me. After all, Espeon can read the future.

"Nurse Joy, what are the chances that maybe Solana knows about my plan and is avoiding me." I sat at the bottom floor of the temple. My scar was really hurting me, so I went in to get it fixed.

"I'm not quite sure. Espeon can read the future, but the catch is that not all Espeon develop that skill fully. Sometimes they have the semi-ESPN ability. Instead of fully reading the future, they just have that inner feeling that something's going to happen. However, for the Espeon that do have the full psychic ability, it becomes hard for Pokemon to select them for a mate because they know who's coming after them and avoid them." Joy explained.

"You don't think she's avoiding me, do you?"

"Well, I should hope not. But you gave her quite a scare when you saw her a few days ago." Nurse Joy came close to me. "Now, hold still. I have to get rid of the bacteria or else this infection will kill you. You haven't been using the medicine I gave you, right?"

"I didn't know that I needed to use it constantly."

"Yes, you do. It provides an invisible shield against bacteria."

"But I wasn't bitten by any Bug-type Pokemon."

"I know, but you live near a Spinarak nest and those Pokemon spread viruses easily. So, now, I'm telling you firmly to use that medicine, you got it?" Nurse Joy told me firmly.

"Yes, ma'am." I replied. After a minute, she was finished with applying the medicine to my face. "There. Now, that should get rid of the infection, but from now on, use that medicine! At least until it closes up."

"Okay, thanks Nurse Joy." I exited the temple.

"Oh, and Lune!" Joy called my name. I turned around and responded to her. "I wouldn't worry about finding Solana. When the time is right, she'll come into your life."

"Right." I nodded and exited over towards my home.

Now that I think about it, Nurse Joy's right. I shouldn't have to worry about whether I find Solana or not. I'll find her if and when the time is right. Maybe now's just not the right time to be finding a mate. Maybe I still need time to grow and learn more. Maybe she's just not the one. I climbed up a tree and decided to watch the sunset from here. Because of my constant searching for Solana for the pas three days, I haven't been able to enjoy the sunset truly. I shut my eyes and embraced the scent of the springtime air.

"Hey Lune!" My relaxation was interrupted. I looked down and saw Hikaru climbing up the tree that I was on.

"What's up, Hikaru?"

"I know how to find your girl!"

"How?"

"Hikaru! I'm telling you, it's a bad idea!" Abby called to him from the bottom of the tree.

"What's a bad idea?" I asked suspiciously.

"It's not a bad idea. Abby's just being a drama queen like always!" Hikaru crossed his arms. "Anyway, I know how to find your girl. We go to a party!"

"A party? Why?"

"Because everybody here goes to parties! It's the only time Pokemon can go crazy without killing themselves!"

"Sorry Hikaru, but I'm just not in a party mood." I jumped off the tree to join Abby. "I'm having enough trouble getting Solana off my mind."

"Why?" Abby asked in shock. "I thought you wanted to get to know her."

"I do, but Nurse Joy told me that I should stop worrying about finding her and wait for the right time. I don't think it's the right time for me to find a mate."

"Good point." Abby agreed.

"I think you're going a little overboard with this mate stuff." Hikaru said jumping down and joining us. "I mean, look at you. You're letting a girl keep you from partying."

"She's not keeping me from partying." I argued. "I'm really not in the mood for partying. I've been going around this whole forest for three days and I'm pooped!"

"Oh, poor Lune. His pretty girl isn't calling for him." Hikaru started to tease me. " 'Oh Lune, Lune, where art thou, Lune?'" He did a terrible female impression.

"Knock it off!" I growled.

"Come on Hikaru, give Lune a break." Abby also tried to smack him out of it.

" 'Oh Lune, you kiss by the book." Hikaru did another bad female impression and then made kissy noises.

"Fine! You want proof, then you'll get proof! Let's go to the damn party and break it down!" I yelled without noticing.

"All right! Now you're talking!"

"I have a bad feeling about this." Abby shook her head.

After I finally snapped out of it, the three of us made our way to watering hole. The place was entirely lit up by those kinds of flowers that light up at night. The sun had gone down by now, so it was dark and the flowers were lit up. We approached the watering hole and took a look at the party. It didn't look like any old party. It looked more like a couples party considering that nearly all of the Pokemon at this part were couples. A Crawdaunt was conducting three other Corphish in dance numbers. There was also a lot of food laying out for the party guests to eat. Now, this is when it hit me. It look like three large, round-shaped poke blocks were stacked on top of each other with Combee honey on top of each of the blocks. That's when I realized where we were.

"What did I tell you, Lune? Take a look at all of those girls!" Hikaru said pointing to the party.

"Who cares about that? Look at all that food!" Abby said looking hungry.

"Hikaru! Are you out of your mind?" I asked in shock.

"Yeah…crazy!" Hikaru said in a hypnotized way.

"No! You idiot!" I pointed down to the party. "THIS is a wedding reception! WE were not invited! THEY will NOT be happy if we show up uninvited!"

"What are you worrying about? Pokemon are so busy at these parties that there's no way that they'll notice someone who's uninvited!"

"They're obviously not THAT busy if you got caught sneaking into the party last summer." Abby mumbled.

"Hey! They had bodyguards. This one doesn't!"

"But Hikaru, if we sneak in and get caught, there's going to be a big fight and then they'll drag my uncle into it and I just became friends with my uncle and don't want to start hating him again." I said thinking about the negative possibilities.

"Stop being so pessimistic!" Hikaru smacked me in the back of the head. "Now, let's…"

We were interrupted by some large steps towards us. We hid behind a rock thinking it was going to be something like a Groudon or Dialga or something really dangerous. Instead, it was something large, but not very dangerous. It was a Snorlax. Apparently, he was one of the party guests. Who invites a Snorlax to a party? We watched as he stomped over to the party.

"Let's party!" He said in a very deep voice. I watched him walk into the party.

"Look at that guy! What business does he have at a wedding?" I asked to myself. We scooted up closer so I could see what's up with this guy.

"Where's the food?" He asked aloud. A Volbeat flew up to him and answered him.

"It's over under the Oran Berry tree. You should try the sunflower salad or the Rattata stew with a cherry blossom twist." He answered the Snorlax while following him.

After walking for a minute, the Snorlax stopped right in front of an Espeon that looked familiar. Wait, what am I thinking? That's Solana! She was at the party! I gasped at the sight of her. She was wearing a red rose around her ear. Boy, she looked beautiful. It brought out her skin tone. I watched as the Snorlax approached her. He stopped right in front of her and smiled largely. It licked the palm of his hand and then wiped it across the top of his head.

"Oh, right! This is my mate's best friend, Solana." The Volbeat introduced the two.

"Hi." The Snorlax said bending down to Solana's level.

"It's…very nice…to meet you." Solana replied nervously. The Snorlax gasped as if he came up with a great idea.

"Maestro!" He pointed to the Crawdaunt. "A tango, please!" The Crawdaunt then started to conduct and the Corphish started to play a tango tune. "Let us dance!"

"Uh…" Solana started to shake her head trying to refuse a dance, but the Snorlax grabbed her and started to dance with her in a tango style. I watched as she looked miserable dancing with this Pokemon that's the size of a cave.

"Poor girl." I watched her. Then, I made up my mind to take action. "Come on, Abby. What're we waiting for? An invitation?" I trotted over towards the party. "Come on, guys!"

"Oh yeah! It's party time!" Hikaru followed me.

"Oh come on, Lune." Abby groaned. "It's a bad idea."

Hikaru and I were able to convince Abby to come along with us and then we were off to the party at last.

**Author's Note: Yay! A new chapter! Review please!**


	6. The Party

**Author's Note: Chapter 6! OMG I'm getting farther and farther each day!**

Chapter 6: The Party

**Lune's POV**

So, let's see, where did we leave off? Oh yeah. We left off where I got my mind straight and decided to go to this party. Of course, Abby wanted to resist this idea, but we were able to convince her to come anyway. We finally made it to the watering hole and entered the party. For once, Hikaru was right. Everybody was too busy to notice uninvited party guests because we were able to enter without any trouble whatsoever. The concern feeling came when Hikaru started blabbering out loud.

" 'Tis I! 'Tis us! We've arrived!" Hikaru said aloud as we entered. Then, he started greeting random Pokemon that we didn't even know. "Yo, what's going on, guys? You doing good? Good. I feel good, too. I look good. You know what, I feel good. And I do look good."

"Hikaru, this isn't taking you anywhere." I muttered to him.

"I really don't want to be here. I really don't want to be here." Abby repeated over and over.

"Abby. Shut up and smile. Everyone's looking at you." Hikaru elbowed Abby a bit.

"Hello!" Abby chuckled and smiled a bit. "Swell party!"

"Well, I'm breaking off to look for my ladies!" Hikaru said dashing off.

At that moment, I saw the Snorlax pass by with Solana, so I left Abby to follow them around. I didn't want to be seen, though. Or else if I was seen, she'd probably see me as a creepy stalker. I had to keep myself hidden. So, I hid beneath some boulders and peaked at Solana and the Snorlax from between the cracks. It looked like he had her face smashed into his body. I hope he doesn't suffocate her. He danced a little around where I was hidden and then moved on to another section. I started to follow them.

"Get your fat arms off of her." I said to myself following them. As I followed them, I saw Hikaru flirting with another female Pikachu.

"Hey, what's a pretty Pikachu like you doing at this part alone?" Hikaru asked flirting with her. She then revealed a really freaky looking smile. "Whoa!" I looked over and saw Abby still with her terrible nerves walking towards the food area.

"I really don't want to be here." She said before realizing all of the food there. "Wow! I really do want to be here! Whoa!"

I finally focused and continued following Solana and the Snorlax around. Jeez, how long is this song supposed to go on for? Well, no use complaining about it right now. So far, even though Solana seemed miserable, I couldn't interrupt the dance. Again, she'll think I'm a stalker and plus, the bride of this wedding reception will probably notice me and then get all pissed and kick us out of the party and then I'm screwed. The song seemed almost done and I didn't think the Snorlax was going to move anymore, so the only thing I could do now was watch. I rested myself on top of a rock and just simply watched. I could've sworn I went into a gaze. After the dance ended, finally, everyone started clapping.

"You know, Solana, I'm not married, yet." The Snorlax laughed and blushed in a bashful way.

"I can't imagine why." Solana laughed nervously.

"Now, you stay right here." He placed Solana on the ground in front of him. "I've made a very important decision. I'd like to ask your daddy something very important." I couldn't help but get off the rock and peak around at a closer angle. The Snorlax started kissing Solana's paw. It made me gag at the sight of it.

"And just WHAT is it that you want to ask my daddy?" Solana asked nervously.

"I'm going to make you the luckiest girl in the forest." He finished off with a laugh and breathed right in Solana's face. She started to cough, but look like she was crying. "Oh, are you crying?"

"I'm just so…so…happy." Solana "cried". The Snorlax just responded with a bashful laugh.

"Where can I find your daddy?" He asked Solana.

"My daddy? Um…" She looked around for a minute. "In the woods!"

"Huh? The woods? The Lost Woods?"

"Y-Yeah. He prefers to live in the deepest part of The Lost Woods because lots of Pokemon get lost there, so we're protected there." Solana lied. Wow, she was a good liar.

"Very well, then." The Snorlax turned and started walking towards the woods. "Don't go too far. I'll be right back very shortly." An Illumise flew up to the Snorlax. She seemed in a great mood. She must've been the bride.

"So, did someone enjoy his dance with my best friend?" She asked.

"As a matter of fact. I'm going to find Solana's daddy to ask for her hand in marriage." He replied.

I had a feeling that maybe this wasn't a good time to try and talk to Solana. Maybe I should try later. She's probably upset from that terrible experience. I would be upset if I had to dance with that giant cushion. I crawled behind the large boulders that I was hiding behind before, but then realized that I wasn't hiding from anybody really. My instincts told me to stay down, but my heart was telling me to stand up and walk normally. I've been taught that you're supposed to follow my instincts, but not tonight. I went with my other option.

And I'm glad I did.

When I popped up, I came into eye contact with Solana for the first time since we first unofficially met. I completely froze and couldn't make a move at the moment. Solana gasped a bit when she realized who I was. I had to do something. I couldn't stay frozen like this. She would think I'm some weird creep who's trying to hypnotize her or deceive her or something like that. I blinked my eyes a bit before curving my lips into a small grin. She just stared at me.

"Um…hi." I finally said. Her lips curved into a small grin as well. "Hi." I repeated myself as my grin got bigger. "You must be Solana."

"Yeah. How do you know?" She nodded.

"Avis told me about you."

"The Swellow?" Solana asked. I nodded. "You asked him about me?"

"Y-Yeah." I answered nervously. Crap, she probably thought I was a creep now. "I-I'm not a creep, honest. I just…wanted to…get to know you better."

"Really? Well…I'd like to get to know you better, too." Solana said. Now, this time for sure, I went into a gaze.

"Lights!" The voice of Hikaru was heard.

The lit up flowers went dim and a Geodude using Rock Polish was on a Blastoise spinning his shell. The Rock Polish move made the area look like it was being lit by a disco ball. The Corphish started playing a slow tune. Hikaru grabbed a tiny log and sang a blues tune into it. I had moved away from behind the rocks now that I didn't have to hide any more. However, during Hikaru's little song, he pushed me forward a bit causing me to sort of end up really close to Solana. I felt that warm feeling boiling in my blood. She grinned at me a bit. Wow, a big difference from when we first met. I grinned at her too. I almost had the urge to kiss her, but I couldn't push it that far, yet.

"Hey! That's my girl!" I looked over and saw the Snorlax running over to me in a grumpy rage.

"Uh…shit. Gotta go!" I ran off scared that I was going to get smashed. Before doing so, I popped right next to Solana for a minute. "I almost forgot, my name's Lune! By the way where do you live?"

"I love the name." Solana complimented my name causing me to blush. "I live in the cave next to Luxray territory."

I had no time to blush or thank her, though. This Snorlax was trying to kill me! I ended up getting chased around the whole party accidentally destroying everything. To finish off this chase, I ran over to a tree where the Snorlax ran into it causing it to fall over and crash into the poke block "cake". After the Snorlax realized what happened, he fled the party leaving me alone. Everyone started gasping after the tree crashed and started running over to where I was.

"Lune!" Hikaru asked trying to look for me through the leaves on the tree.

"Lune! Are you okay?" Abby asked with concern. I popped out of the leaves with Hikaru on my head.

"I'm okay." I chuckled.

"What have you done?" The Illumise that I saw earlier looked pissed off at me. Yep, I knew she was the bride. I looked around and realized the damage I did.

"Lune!" I looked over and saw Solana running towards me. "Did he hurt you? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You know him?" The Illumise asked Solana in shock. "What's he doing here, anyway? He wasn't invited!"

"Yeah, I kind of know him, Lucy." Solana answered with her ears low. She looked at me with sadness in her eyes. I looked back at her the same way thinking she hated me. "Why'd you do this?"

"I didn't mean to." I answered softly. "He was trying to kill me."

"Well, guess what?" Lucy asked me. "Your clumsiness ruined my whole evening! My special night is ruined because of you!" Everyone then started agreeing with her. "Boys, get rid of him!" All of a sudden, a bunch of Beedrill started buzzing in front of me.

"Uh-oh. Let's get out of here!" I started to run out of the party with Hikaru and Abby trailing behind me. After running a while, we made it out alive.

"Wow! What a party that was!" Hikaru fell backwards onto the grass from exhaustion.

"The food was excellent." Abby said lying down on the ground.

"Yeah, but the evening was a disaster." I said feeling like crap. "I'm going home."

"What? But you were so happy. We saw you! You looked like you were having the time of your life!" Abby said trying to stop me.

"Yeah! You can't be depressed over some dumb party!" Hikaru agreed. Abby then hit him on the head.

"It wasn't a dumb party. It was Lucy's wedding reception!" Abby scolded him.

"I was having a great time, before I ruined everything. I ruined Lucy's big night and Solana probably hates me now."

"What makes you think she hates you now?" Hikaru asked.

"Because…she's the best friend of Lucy." I sighed.

"Well, would you hate Solana if she accidentally ruined Hikaru's wedding reception if he had one?" Abby asked. I shook my head. "Maybe she doesn't hate you because she knows that it was all an accident."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But I should make sure."

"How about you go see her tomorrow?" I heard a voice that sounded like Avis. I looked up and realized that it was Avis!

"How much did you hear?" I asked.

"I didn't need to hear anything. I saw it." He replied landing on a rock in front of me.

"You were at the party?"

"Yep. My cousin is friends with Lucy, so I went with my cousin."

"Do you know if Solana hates me or not?" I asked.

"Go ask her for yourself tomorrow. She told you where she lives, so go see her tomorrow. And apologize. Even if it was an accident, apologizing will show her that you care." Avis advised me.

"Right, I'll go see her tomorrow after everyone's had a good night's rest and isn't cranky."

I stood up and looked in the direction of Luxray territory where Solana lived. Hopefully, all will go well.

**Author's Note: Hope you liked it! Sorry it was short, but I'm on a roll with this fanfic, so I'm gonna write as much as I can without writer's block, yeah!**


	7. Apologetic

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 7! Boy, I'm on a roll here!**

Chapter 7: Apologetic

**Solana's POV**

I watched as all of the party guests left the disastrous celebration. Everyone except me, Lucy, and her mate left for home for the evening. I looked at all of destruction. The food was spread out everywhere, flowers were trampled, and the poke block cake was ruined. We couldn't even do the tradition where the bride and groom cut the cake together. I'm sure Lune really didn't mean to, but Lucy sure was disappointed at the party that was now completely destroyed. Poor Lucy. What was Lune thinking? Sneaking into a party that you weren't even invited to? Well, that was obviously a stupid choice to make.

"Lucy, it's okay. We can have another party, just you, me, and the group." Lucy's new Volbeat mate tried to comfort her.

"You don't understand." She said wiping her tears. "It was our special night! And that stupid Umbreon came along and ruined it!"

"Um…Lucy?" I asked hoping that I wasn't interrupting anything.

"Yeah?"

"Remember when I told you a few days ago about that Umbreon that I met on the cliff?" I reminded her. She nodded her head. "Well…that was him."

"Seriously?" Lucy asked in shock. "Well, I certainly hope you don't end up marrying him. That's the last thing you want is a mate that destroys things."

"I'm sure he didn't mean to. I mean, didn't you see that huge Snorlax?"

"Yeah, so?" The Volbeat shrugged. "He was a party guest."

"He was going to kill Lune." I said firmly.

"Solana!" Lucy gasped. "He wouldn't hurt a fly! Didn't you know that he's a pacifist! He doesn't fight, he just scares Pokemon off!"

"Oh." I said lowering my ears.

"Look, that Lune guy obviously wasn't thinking about what he was doing or else he would've just fled the party without causing such a disaster."

"I guess, you're right."

"Anyway, why don't we go home and get some rest, Lucy." The Volbeat led Lucy over to where they now lived in a large tree at the watering hole.

"Okay. 'Night Solana." Lucy said bye before flying off with her mate.

I watched the two newlyweds as they flew off together. I'm glad Lucy was able to find a great guy for a mate. Lots of girls end up with the luck of finding the perfect mate for them. Unfortunately, there are lots of girls who also don't have the luck. Those kinds of girls end up spending their whole lives alone. Their family would consist of their parents, any siblings, and possibly an adopted child. I remember as a teenager, out of my friends, I was the last one to have a first boyfriend. Before that time, I used to always worry that I was going to be left alone, and then, my first boyfriend, a Jolteon, came along and we got together for a while.

Maybe my worries were trying to tell me something. I had a few boyfriends in the past, but maybe that's all I was meant to have, just boyfriends. I walked from the watering hole over towards Luxray territory where my cave was located on top of a hill. After arriving home, I sat there gazing at the late night moon. Looking at the moon made me think of Lune, due to the fact that he was known as the moonlight Pokemon. I remember how my feelings for him suddenly changed. When I first saw him on the top of that one cliff, I couldn't trust him. I couldn't even stand to look at him. Now, it's like I see him as a friend that I've had for a long time. I planted myself on the soft grass in front of the entrance to my cave and just lay there.

"Why, good evening, Solana." I turned my head to see Taka heading towards my direction.

"Taka? I thought you left the wedding to go home."

"I did, but I was called by a family to bless their newborn child. May Celebi's spirit rest within him." Taka said shutting his eyes and pointing his face to the sky.

"Well, it's nice to see you, Taka."

"What sadness has laid upon you?" He asked sitting near me.

"Nothing. I'm just…thinking." I rested my head on my paws.

"Ah, thinking about Lune?"

"N-No!" I blushed shaking my head. He gave me the look. "W-Well. Maybe a little."

"I see. You two had an encounter tonight, didn't you?"

"Y-yeah. Kind of, but it didn't go well at all." I said lowering my head. "Because of our encounter, it ruined Lucy's wedding. Maybe I shouldn't see him anymore."

"Young Solana, come." Taka said after taking a deep breath. I walked over and sat next to him. "It is quite common for a disaster to occur when you meet someone new. Let me tell you about a relationship I used to have. We were very close, indeed. I had thought that she was perfect. We never had a fight. We never argued. It was a beautiful relationship."

"But?" I asked more about the story.

"But, I didn't listen to Celebi about what would happen in the future. After we wed, we realized that neither of us could handle marriage and the negatives. It eventually tore us apart, but we still remained good friends and are still close. That's the important thing. However, I still pray that I could redo our time together over again so we could be more prepared. Between us, I still love her."

"So, if nothing bad ever happens, then I won't be prepared for the future?"

"That is right. Think about that, young one. If you need guidance, ask me or ask Celebi." Taka then got up and started walking away. A thought suddenly popped up into my head and I just had to ask.

"Um…Taka?" I stopped him.

"Yes?" He answered without making eye contact.

"This woman wouldn't happen to be Nurse Joy, would it?" I asked in a teasing manner.

"……Let's leave this conversation in the past, shall we?" Taka said after a long pause and walked away.

I laughed at the thought that Taka was in love with Nurse Joy. I never would've thought of them together, but now that I think about it, they'd be great together. After a good laugh with myself, I turned and went into my cave for a good night's sleep. Taka was right. So what if I had one screw up? At least I'll learn from it. Well, tomorrow was a new day and it was time to put tonight behind us.

* * *

**Lune's POV**

The cool air of the late morning blew through my ears. Today was beautiful, which meant that my little meeting that I have with Solana might go well. I stopped off to grab a drink of water and to make sure I was clean enough that she wouldn't back off due to my filthiness. Oh yeah, I was clean enough. I took a deep breath and started heading over to Luxray territory where Solana lived. Then I suddenly had a bad thought, what if she had a group of really bad Pokemon waiting to rip me to shreds because I ruined Lucy's wedding? Nah, she didn't seem like that type. But wait, what if she can read the future and she sees me coming and tries to avoid me? Dammit, this is more complicated than it needs to be.

I had to think this through. I already screwed up once and I didn't want to screw it up again. So, I took a seat right in the middle of a field and started to think. I couldn't think, that was the problem. Or maybe the problem was that I was overreacting when really I could be heading over to Solana's cave to get this over with. I groaned at how stupid I was acting right now and hid my face in the grass. I thought I was going to have to go back to see Nurse Joy again because I was starting to get a terrible headache.

"Lune?" I jumped at the sound of somebody talking to me.

"Oh, it's only you, Avis." I said catching my breath.

"Yeah. What's up with you? You look like you're about to kill yourself." Avis gave me a concerned look.

"That's how I feel. I'm supposed to go see Solana right now to apologize and this it's more complicated than it should be."

"I don't think so. I think _you_ are making it more complicated than it needs to be."

"Is that what it sounds like?" I asked nervously. Avis nodded. "I guess maybe I'm just nervous."

"Ah, I remember those days. But hey, if I let my nerves overcome me, I never would've come this far in my life. I now have a mate and twin boys." Avis chuckled. I grinned at how joyous his life seemed. "Why are you so nervous anyway?"

"I…just don't know."

"Lune. You have no reason to be nervous. You're an appealing guy. You have a great personality. What you need to have is confidence in yourself. Don't just show your courage to Solana, show it to yourself too." Avis put one of his wings around me. "Now, stop sitting around and go talk to that girl!"

"Okay! I'll do it!"

I got up and started dashing over to Luxray Territory. As soon as I made it near the start of Luxray Territory, I stopped and looked around for a cave that Solana could live in. I looked around a bunch, but they were already occupied. Could've she been lying just to get me off her back? After searching all of the caves, I saw one on top of what looked like a hill. This cave was a lot similar to mine. I walked over to the base of the hill and tried to look up and see if Solana was there. I couldn't see her. I immediately assumed that Solana hated me and she was lying to me just to get me off her back. I should've known. My throat hurt and I just sat there with my head hung low.

Suddenly, I felt a rock hit me in the head. Not knowing where it came from, I rubbed the top of my soft head with my paw and looked around thinking that it was some bird Pokemon or something living in a tree. When I looked up on the hill, I saw her. It was Solana. She was walking out of her cave shaking out her fur and stretching herself out. She must've been waking up from her long night's rest.

"Wow, it's Solana." I said to myself watching her sit down and stare out into the horizon. I started to feel something strange in my body at that moment. And I started to get things that I never got before. "Why? Why am I getting goosebumps? I don't feel cold at all, I feel really warm." For now, I couldn't help, but just watch her. I heard her start to talk. It sounds so wrong, but I listened in on her.

"What am I supposed to do? Sooner or later, Lune and I are bound to run into each other again. What do I say to him, then? That I don't want to see him again? I can't do that. It'd break his heart. It's quite obvious that he wants to get to know me, so I can't just blow him off like that. Especially when he's been so good to me." Solana grinned at the end of that last comment. I couldn't help but sigh at that. "So, does this mean I have to choose? Between my best friend and a boy I just met. Aye me. Although Lucy's wedding night was ruined, you can't really be mad at someone forever. Everybody deserves a second chance. Besides, you can't really blame Lune for the disaster. It was that terrible Snorlax that looked like he was about to kill Lune. I mean, he was only trying to avoid getting his face smashed. Oh Lune, why don't you just waltz right into my cave and then I can settle this for good." Do I go in for it? Might as well. I mean, she asked for it.

"Then let's settle this, once and for all!" I called up to her. She gasped and ran behind a tree.

"Who's there?" She asked defensively.

"I don't know how to tell you who I am." I said traveling up the hill. "Because my name may end up being your enemy forever."

"Lune?" Solana walked back out from behind the tree. "What're you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to you." I answered reaching a boulder near the top of the hill. I sat on it. "I had to tell you that I didn't mean to ruin your friend's wedding."

"You came all the way here just to apologize?" Solana asked in shock.

"I don't care if you hate me or not. I just want you and Lucy to know that I'm really sorry about what happened last night. If you two could just find it in your hearts to forgive me, you don't have to see my face ever again."

"My ears haven't heard you bark a hundred words." Solana then moved to the edge of the hill where she was just standing a few feet above me. "Yet, I think your voice sounds really sweet." I smiled at the compliment she gave me. I then moved all the way up to the top of the hill.

"Do you hate me?" I asked her. "It's okay if you do. I deserve it."

"Lune, you came all the way back to apologize. I think that's the sweetest thing anyone could ever do."

"So, if you guys could forgive me, do you think maybe we could put this behind us and be friends?"

"I don't know if Lucy could." Solana shook her head. My head hung low. "But I'd like to put this behind us." I looked up and grinned at her again.

"So…um…would you like to…" I struggled to say.

"Do something tonight?" She finished for me.

"Yeah. Like…um…"

"Dinner?"

"Sure! Dinner sounds great!" I immediately agreed.

"How about Milotic Falls at dusk?" Solana asked.

"Sure. I'll bring the food."

"No need to. We can hunt together." She started to turn back to head back to her cave. "So, I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah. Milotic Falls at dusk." I confirmed our plans.

"Great, it's a date then." Solana then walked in the opposite direction of where I was going.

I watched her until she was out of sight. The way the sunlight shined on her, it just made her so beautiful. I laughed at myself as I headed back over to where I lived because I had a date tonight. Wait a minute, I have a date tonight! Holy crap, my first date ever! I've never gone out with a girl before so this was beyond exciting for me. I ended up prancing around in flower beds getting some weird looks from other Pokemon, but I didn't care I was in too much of a good mood to be bothered. After prancing around for a while, I ran into Abby and Hikaru. Abby was sunbathing and Hikaru was playing around in the water.

"Hey guys!" I jumped into the water splashing both of them.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Abby asked shaking the water off of her. "I was a little busy sunbathing here if it's alright with you."

"Anything's alright with me." I said floating on my back.

"Whoa, Lune, are you okay?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"You seem very different today."

"How different?" I kept questioning the curious Pikachu.

"Well, usually you're all down and depressed about everything, but now you're suddenly hyper and happy."

"Hey! I'm not always depressed!" I argued.

"What Hikaru is trying to say is that you're very happy today." Abby said finishing off drying her leaves. "What's going on?"

"Sorry guys, I don't have time to tell you."

"Why not?" Abby asked suspiciously.

"Because, I have to go home to get ready for my date tonight." I said starting to walk towards my cave.

"Oh okay. Well, tell us after your WHAT?????" Hikaru asked in shock.

"You mean a date as in…a boy and a girl kind of date?" Abby asked also in shock. I nodded proudly. "OMG! You finally asked her out!"

"No I didn't!" I said still happy.

"Then how'd you get on a date with her?"

"She asked ME out!"

"Wow. I can't even get a girl to ask me out." Hikaru gazed.

"So, where are you guys going?" Abby asked.

"Dinner at dusk at Milotic Falls."

I answered all of my friends' questions before looking over at the falls where Solana and I were going to have our date this evening.

**Author's Note: Aww, Lune and Solana have a date! Thanks for reading and review please!**


	8. Memories From Long Ago

**Author's Note: Chapter 8! Woot! Okay, enjoy! And don't forget to review!**

Chapter 8: Memories From Long Ago

**Lune's POV**

I stood under a small waterfall at the lake near my cave. I had to be nice and squeaky clean for my date tonight. Boy, I could just imagine the delicious prey that was waiting for us to pounce on this evening. I can also imagine the moonlight shining down on Solana when the sun goes down. Man, she looked beautiful under the moonlight even though she's technically the sun Pokemon. She looks beautiful either way. Everybody else was actually in a good mood today too. A couple young Skitty came up and asked if I wanted to play tag and a couple of young Poochyena asked if I wanted to play Pokemon Attack with them. Kids, I thought to myself. I politely rejected their offers, but it was the thought that made me realize how happy everybody was today.

After taking my brief 20 minute bath, I shook the water off my fur and headed over a sunny spot so I could dry off. I thought about some stuff while doing so. My main thought was one word: kiss. Should I kiss her at the end of the evening? I've heard that many couples to have their first kiss after the first date. But wait a minute, Solana had a terrible experience with a guy before me, so if I kissed her tonight, that'd be moving too fast. I couldn't scare her anymore than I already did on the day we first met. So, scratch that out. I just hope that I don't screw this up for myself. Wait, don't think like that, I said to myself. That's what I said on Lucy's wedding night and then look what happened.

While my fur was drying, I had gotten a little bored since I was just lying there under the sun with nothing to do. I was hoping for Hikaru or Abby or Avis or somebody to join me so I could have someone to talk to, but no luck. Except, I did see someone come over to join me. He looked like an Absol. It was the good king himself, my uncle Yaku. It's been a little while since I've seen him when I first arrived here. I've lived here for a week and haven't seen him once since I've entered the actual forest, so it was nice to finally see him again. I sat up from the position I was in and greeted my uncle.

"Uncle Yaku!" I greeted him happily.

"I see you're enjoying yourself, Lune." He chuckled.

"What're you doing here?"

"What? Can't a king wonder around his own forest?"

"Sure he can." We both laughed.

"So, how do you like it here?"

"It's great!" I answered falling onto my back.

"Better than where you came from?"

"Much better."

"Make any friends?"

"Yep, quite a few actually, and they're great friends."

"Well, I thought I'd just come and see how you were doing." Uncle Yaku then stood up and started to walk away.

"No! You don't have to leave." I stopped him. "I was actually hoping for someone to talk to since I'm stuck here for the next thirty minutes."

"You don't have to stay here, you can go wherever you want." He gave me a weird look.

"No, I mean I have to dry my fur off. I just had a bath."

"I thought you bathed in the morning."

"I do, but I have a date tonight, with Solana." I said proudly.

"You're kidding." He gave me a 'you've got to be kidding me' look. "You've been here a week and you've already got a date."

"Yeah, there's no problem, is there?"

"No." Uncle Yaku then just sat on the ground with his head low. "I guess there isn't."

I couldn't help, but wonder what was wrong with my uncle. He seemed really upset. Why? Is he upset because I had a date? There's nothing wrong with having a date. At least, to me there's nothing wrong. Did something happen to Uncle Yaku just like something happened to Solana? I had all of these questions now. This gave me a good excuse to sit and dry my fur for a while now. I moved closer to uncle and sat right next to him rather than just near him. I never had a father to sit really close to, so Uncle Yaku was the closest family member I had now.

"What's wrong?" I asked with concern.

"Nothing." He shook his head. "It's nothing, really."

"Well, you were fine before I mentioned that I had a date and now you're upset. What's going on?"

"I told you, it's nothing."

"Come on, Uncle Yaku. You can trust me. I'm your nephew. I can keep a secret." I nudged him a bit.

"Oh, Lune." He sighed. "It's just something that happened long ago. It's too complicated."

"I think I can catch on."

"To sum it up, let's just say that I don't believe in love." He answered. I gave him a 'what the hell' kind of look. "When I see Pokemon date each other, I always think, what the hell are they doing wasting their time when they're just going to get their heart broken by that person. Somebody's heart is always broken in a relationship. There's no love in a heart break and there's no heart break in love."

"Somebody broke your heart, didn't they?" I asked getting interested.

"…Yes."

"Who was it?" I asked defensively. "I'll teach her a lesson!"

"I'd better not tell you."

"Come on, just tell me!"

"You won't believe me." Uncle Yaku shook his head.

"I trust you, you're my uncle." After I begged him to tell me, he took a deep breath.

"…Your mother."

He was right. He shouldn't have told me that. How is that possible? How could've my mother have broken his heart? She never mentioned that she was in love with my uncle at some point before she and my old man got married. Did she just not tell me just because she didn't want me to know the truth? This was all confusing to me. However, for some reason, I was still interested. I still wanted to know how it was possible that my mother was in love with my uncle.

"What do you mean?" I asked wanting to get further into this. "How did she do it?"

"It's a long story. I'll make you miss your date."

"No! I've got time. I'm not meeting her until dusk. Please, tell me the story." I begged my uncle.

"Okay, fine. It happened right after your father and I left our family so we could live out on our own. I knew I was going to rule Orre Forest, but my father wasn't ready to retire yet, so I spent some time on my own before then."

(A/N: Okay, this'll be told in Yaku's POV and will be flash back the whole time, 'kay?)

* * *

**Yaku's POV**

My brother and I had finally come of age when we could leave the family and live out on our own. We were enemies at the time, so we decided to go our own separate ways. I came across a large vacant forest on my way, so I walked into it. It was beautiful. There were blue skies, blue waters, green grass, and more than enough food to eat. Nobody lived there, so I figured it would be okay if I lived there, so I did. I found an empty cave and made that my home.

As the days went by, more and more Pokemon who had no homes started coming to forest. I had accidentally referred to it as my forest, so they would assume that I was ruler of the place. They referred to me as their king and asked if I would let them stay. I happily accepted them into the forest. I accepted anybody into the forest. More and more Pokemon would pour into the forest and request to live there day by day, week by week, month by month. Soon, it became packed.

Eventually, after the many Pokemon entered the forest and homed themselves there, I met her, the love of my life. I was walking around the forest doing a daily inspection, when I was asked by the most beautiful Vaporeon I had ever seen to help her find a home.

"Excuse me." I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and looked into the most beautiful pair of eyes I ever saw.

"Yes?" I answered hoping to look professional.

"Could you find me a home? I notice you're taking in others who don't have homes." She asked.

"Y-Yeah, I'd be glad to help, you find a home. I'm Yaku."

"I'm Aqua. Nice to meet you." She introduced herself with a smile that could make me melt forever. "So, how long have you been living here?"

"A few months. I'm probably going to eventually find someone else to take over because my father has a forest that he's ruling and as soon as he retires, I'm going to take over that one."

"Sounds like you're very busy."

"It's not that bad. All I do pretty much is answer questions and find homes for other Pokemon." I shook my head.

"Well, I think it's very nice of you to let everybody have a home here. Some Pokemon would just rather keep the whole forest to themselves."

"There's more than enough room for me. It'd get too lonely."

I was still young back then, so I was quite the bashful one, but as professional as I could, I happily accepted her into the forest and found her one of the best homes ever, inside the waterfall caverns. Being a Water-type, she loved it and thought it was the best home she ever had. At that point, I knew that I was in love with her, regardless that I had just met her.

* * *

**Lune's POV**

"So, then what happened?" I asked wanting to know more.

"Patience Lune, patience." Uncle Yaku calmed me down a bit.

* * *

**Yaku's POV**

Anyway, the days went by and we got closer and closer each day. I would check on her each day to see if she was enjoying her new home. At some point, there was a thunderstorm outside while I was checking up on her. I didn't do well when it came to thunderstorms, so Aqua invited me to stay in her cavern until the storm passed on. I accepted and decided to stay in the cave. It was much better than trying to brave out that huge thunderstorm out there. Throughout the time that we were there, we talked nonstop just like we had been for the past couple of weeks.

"Are you bored?" Aqua asked randomly.

"A little, why?"

"Oh, it's just that you looked really bored just sitting in here. Why don't we play in the puddles in here?" She offered.

"Aren't we a little old for games like that?" I asked laughing a little.

"Yeah, but no one's around." She had a good point there.

"Okay, you're it!" I splashed her with water first. For a while there, we did nothing but splashed each other with water and laugh about it. After playing for a while, we settled down.

" You know, if you're getting bored, you can go if you like. Besides, I think the storm has passed on." Aqua said standing up and walking outside.

What was she thinking? She's a Water-type going out in a thunderstorm. Not so smart, huh? She knew that it was obviously raining, but she didn't know that the thunderstorm was still there. While Aqua was out there looking around, it happened. A bolt of thunder hit a large tree near the waterfall caverns and came toppling down. Luckily, I happened to be standing right at the entrance of her cage. As quick as I can, I dashed over to her and knocked her out of the way before the tree could fall onto her. Instead, it fell onto me.

The negative part of this was that the thunderstorm was still going. So, I was stuck under a tree in the middle of a thunderstorm. Aqua kept staying trying to help me out from underneath. I kept telling her to go back into the caverns to protect herself. She wouldn't listen. Boy, she was a stubborn one. I knew that if she was going to have a kid, he or she was probably going to be just as stubborn as she was. So, what was I supposed to do? Force her to go back or let her stay out here and possibly get killed. Dammit, I thought that I should've just stayed in Orre Forest with my parents.

"Aqua, I'm telling you! Get back into the cave! You'll be killed!" I yelled.

"No! I'm not going in there without you!" She cried trying to roll the tree off of my body.

"But you'll be killed! I'll never forgive myself if I let you die out here!"

"Wherever one goes, we both go!" She spat out. "If you're stuck out here, then so am I!"

"But, Aqua…" I tried to argue.

"No, Yaku! I love you!"

"Aqua…" My eyes started to water up.

"Hold on a minute, this thing is going to come off!" Aqua said trying to push the tree off.

"Push harder!" A voice said.

I heard a different voice from a distance. Then, I suddenly felt the log being pushed off my body a lot easier than it was before. After a few pushes, the tree was finally off of me and I was able to fully breathe again. I ran over to Aqua and nuzzled her. She nuzzled me back. After a few seconds, I heard the same voice clear his throat. I looked over in his direction and found that the voice belonged to no one other than my own little brother, Raiden. I crouched in front of Aqua in defense thinking that this guy was trouble.

"Hold it, Yaku. I came to join the forest." Raiden stopped me. "I don't have any place to live."

"Why? I thought you found a meadow."

"It's too overpopulated by humans. You think I could stay?" He asked.

"Come on, Yaku." Aqua said. "You did say you accept anyone into the forest." I sighed and eventually gave in.

"Fine. You can stay. Do you need help finding a home?"

"No, I can do it myself." Raiden said and then walked past me. Aqua walked up closer to me.

"You did the right thing." She then gave me a kiss on my cheek. I blushed at that.

* * *

**Lune's POV**

"Well, so far it's sounds like you had it good."

"I did have it good. But then it got worse." Uncle Yaku sighed.

"How did you and my mother separate?" I asked.

"It happened a few weeks after your father came to live in the forest."

* * *

**Yaku's POV**

Things went great when I ruled the forest for the first few weeks, but after those few weeks, things got chaotic. Apparently, a major drought hit and there was a definite lack of food and water in the forest. Pokemon got into fights over food and water. Small fires were also burning throughout the forest. The actual fires weren't the problem, it was the results that hurt us. Because of homes burning down, Pokemon would sneak into other Pokemon's homes and take them as their own. Also, because of the lack of food and water, some Pokemon were dying from starvation and dehydration. Pokemon of all ages died. When children died, sometimes parents would try and steal a child from another family, then things would just become worse.

Stress started coming on to me at that point. Pokemon kept asking me what I was going to do about this. I couldn't handle it. I was so young and it was just too much for me. Even Aqua was having a problem with this. She told me that other Pokemon were coming into her cavern to have drinks of water. After everybody realized that I couldn't do this, they started saying things about me. They said things like "some king he is" or "if he can't handle this, why is he even here". The stress was terrible. I started getting terrible headaches and high blood pressure and that wasn't good for someone who was my age.

Eventually, one day, everybody came together and decided that they thought it was time to find a new king for the forest. I refused to give up my place. I proposed that if I just had time to think this over, that I'd be able to find a way to get through this. However, people were moaning. They were groaning. Nobody wanted to wait. I never admitted it to anybody, but I was scared at this point. It seemed as if everyone was trying to overthrow me from my place, when really I felt I could rule this place. Then, it got so terrible, that one Pokemon stood up against me, your father.

"Yaku, I think it's time you gave up your place." Raiden in front of the raging crowd.

"No! I'm going to get us through it, it just know it!" I argued.

"How can you say that? Look at everybody! They're starving! They're dying of thirst! You're going to kill everybody if you don't step down! Think about it! Somebody else may have a great plan to help us survive!"

"If you can point someone out, I'll consider it."

"Me." He answered.

"You can't rule this place! You have no experience!"

"Neither do you! And besides, Dad already gave you Orre Forest to rule."

"FYI, I don't get Orre Forest until Dad dies." I reminded Raiden. "If you think that's a good reason for me to hand the throne off to you, then you're wrong!"

"I'm just saying that I have a plan to get us out of this!"

"What?" I asked with my head low.

"We leave this place!" Raiden called out to the other Pokemon.

"Have you lost your senses! We can't leave this place! It's our home!" I yelled. "Besides, we have nowhere to go!"

"Yes, we do! Everyone will stay at Dad's forest until the drought passes." After that, I turned to everybody who were chatting amongst each other.

"We choose Raiden!" One Pokemon yelled out. Everyone agreed with him.

"He'll feed us when we're hungry!"

"He'll quench our thirst with plenty of water!"

"He'll chase away our enemies!"

"Raiden! Raiden! Raiden! Raiden!" All of the Pokemon started to chant my brother's name.

"Silence!" I silenced everybody.

"No, Yaku!" Raiden shot back at me. I looked over and made eye contact with him. "The Pokemon have spoken. Step down, Yaku." I stood there not doing anything. "Either step down, or we fight! The choice is yours!"

"Fine." I made my decision. I got into a crouching position. "We'll fight. The strongest man rules the forest."

All of the citizen Pokemon surrounded the two of us. It was indeed going to be an interesting fight. An Absol against a Jolteon. Not to mention that Raiden had a very aggressive nature. I'm surprised Dad didn't choose him to rule Orre Forest. We were both in defensive positions ready to fight. I was waiting for him to make the first move because I could easily dodge it with my Double Team move. To start off the fight, we did nothing but circle each other giving death glares to the other. Something told me that this might be a fight to the death.

Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared for this. I expected Raiden to make the first move, but I didn't expect him to use THIS move. The move? You guess it, Sand-Attack. Raiden decided to fight defensively and start off with Sand-Attack. Dammit! I hated that move! It hurt my eyes so much! While I was shaking my head trying to get rid of the sand, Raiden jumped on top of my and sunk his teeth into my back. I felt electrifying energy run through my body. He must've used Thunder Fang. After that, I started to charge at him even though I could barely see. I tried to use Quick Attack, but completely missed him. Luckily, I was right by a lake, so I was able to stick my head in the water and wash out my eyes.

Once my eyes were washed, I turned around and was just barely able to dodge my brother and his Double Kick attack. Being a Dark-type, that would've hurt me big time. This time, I snuck on him from behind and attacked him with Psycho Cut. I knocked him against a tree, but bounced right off with his feet and countered with Quick Attack. This time, I had hoped that I would calm a little since we have both damaged each other. But it didn't. Instead, it got a lot worse, and a lot more violent.

Raiden decided to go physical with me. He pounced on top of my and sank his teeth into my neck. This time, his was a real bite and not a Thunder Fang. I cried out in pain and knocked him off of me. I tackled him this time, but he countered once again by smacking me in the chest. Another painful move he made. I had no idea how much longer I was going to last at this point. After I was knocked back onto the ground, Raiden jumped back onto me and bit me in the back, this time, it was a harder bite than the one in the neck. Luckily, I was able to knock him off before he did anymore damage. He left a gash on my back and bite mark on my neck along with a scab on my chest, so the damage was pretty visible. I lay there on the ground panting. Hoping I could go on longer, I couldn't. I tried to get up, but it was no use. I used up all of the stamina I had on Raiden and didn't have anymore.

"I believe I won." Raiden said standing above me. I just lay there glaring up at him. He stood up on a large boulder in front of the crowd. "Fellow citizens! Is that the kind of Pokemon you want for a king?"

"No!" Everyone replied.

"We shall depart for Orre Forest at dawn! There's more than enough food for everybody! And more than enough water for everyone to drink! Are you all with me?"

"Yes!"

"Then we shall depart! Everybody have a good night's sleep!" Raiden announced.

"Long live King Raiden! Long live King Raiden!" Everyone chanted as they headed off to have a good night's rest. As soon as I was alone, Raiden came over and stood above me.

"You're welcome to come with us." He invited me along.

"No! I don't need to led by the likes of you!" I brushed past my brother and saw Aqua who was just standing there in front of me. "Aqua? We're going to find a new home together right? Just like we planned?" I stepped closer to her, but she stood back.

"I can't come. How can I rely on someone who can't even defend himself?" Aqua asked with tears in her eyes.

"I can defend myself! He's just my brother!"

"And besides Yaku, you completely ignored me the past two weeks. I can't be around someone who's just going to ignore me suddenly!"

"Aqua, you know the drought has been stressing me out!"

"But did you ignore anybody else? No! I was the one who was ignored!" Aqua ran past me. "I'm sorry, but I can't see you anymore!"

That crushed me. It was bad enough losing my reign to my younger brother, but I lost the love of my life too. That was when I realized that there truly was no such thing as love. How could've I fallen under the spell that everybody calls love. I should've known there was something fishy about it. I felt do disgusted by it that I didn't even want to see my brother or Aqua anymore. So, I left Raiden. I would've gone to Orre Forest, but I knew that Raiden was taking everybody there, so I avoided it. I decided to just travel for the time being.

After a year, I checked back at my old home and found that the drought had ended. Everybody was back to the way they were. I found out that Aqua had fallen in love with Raiden and married him. Great! As if her breaking my heart wasn't bad enough! I thought I had gotten over the fact that Aqua and I weren't together anymore, but I had enough of that now! I didn't want anything to do with them. So, I left and vowed to never go back there again. Knowing that everything was back to normal at Raiden's forest, I returned home to Orre Forest. I discovered that my father died while I was away. So, the forest was left for me to rule. I truly didn't want to rule it, but I carried on my father's wish anyway and continued to rule.

Time had passed rather quickly while I ruled Orre Forest. Six months had passed since I returned back to my childhood home. I ended up meeting up with one of my old buddies from when I used to rule the other forest. He was a Sandslash that decided to stay here, but also liked to visit his old home that Raiden ruled once in a while. He had just gotten back from visiting the place since he was actually a good friend of Raiden's as well. I came to find out that my brother and Aqua had given birth to a son. You, Lune. That's when I realized that my brother was probably going to prepare you to overthrow me from the throne of Orre Forest. So, I had to get my act together and get tough. At this time, I also met up with a little Poochyena and a little Spearow that were both orphans. I figured I could raise them to be some little buddies to rely on in case I needed help, so I took them in.

* * *

**Lune's POV**

"Life started passing swifter and swifter as I waited for you to arrive." Uncle Yaku finished. "And you did, but you didn't come for the reason I thought you did."

"Of course not, Uncle." I replied. "So, you are Yami and Takeshi's father?"

"Not really. I raised them like a father, but they never referred to me as their father."

"So, what does this have to do with my date with Solana?"

"Lune. Don't fall in love with her." Uncle Yaku said firmly.

I wanted to give him a wide look. Don't fall in love with her? Who does he think he is? Sure, he is the king of Orre Forest, but that doesn't mean that he has the right to tell me who I can and can't fall in love with! Number one, I'm not a child anymore and number two, it's called free will and number three, I never said I was in love with Solana! I just wanted to get to know her better. This made me really mad and I probably shouldn't yell at him or else I'll probably get into another fight like I did with my old man before taking off for Orre Forest, but that didn't mean I couldn't glare at the ground.

"Trust me Lune, you'll have a much better life if you avoided falling in love with Solana. Don't get me wrong. She's a great Pokemon, but that doesn't mean she doesn't break hearts like all of the other Pokemon out there." Uncle Yaku said. "So, how about you go and cancel your date and we do some guy stuff together? We can go hiking in the mountains. I haven't been on a hike in a long time and I could use one."

"No." I shook my head.

"Okay, we won't go hiking. How about fishing?"

"No. I mean, no, I'm not going to cancel my date."

"Come on Lune, you'd rather risk getting your heart broken than spend quality time with your uncle?" Uncle Yaku asked in shock.

"I'm not saying that I'd rather go on a date than be with you. What I'm saying is that I'm not going to cancel my date just because of a bad experience that you had!" I started to raise my voice at him. "And you know what? If I do get my heart broken, it's not going to affect me because I've been through a lot worse pain than that! But whether I'm in love with Solana or not is my decision! Not yours!" I stopped and had a sudden thought in my head. "Oh, I get it now. You don't want me to out with Solana because you're jealous!"

"Hey, wait just a minute!" He spat back at me. "I'm not jealous!"

"Yes you are! You're jealous because Mom broke your heart and now you don't want anybody else to be with the ones they love!" I yelled. "What kind of sick-minded bastard are you?"

"Watch that tone, Lune!"

"No! I'm not a child! And you're not my father either! I thought I could trust you. But now I realize that you have the same selfish and disgusting mind that my old man had!"

I had one last yelling at my uncle and started dashing over to the watering hole. For sure, I had hoped that I had at least one family member other than my mother that I could trust, but I guess that's all different now. It didn't matter, though. I had to get my mind off of this and finish getting ready for my date.

**Author's Note: Phew! Long chapter! Anyway, review please!**


	9. Sunset Horizons

**Author's Note: Hey! I'm back from the dead! Nah, just kidding! Sorry I haven't been updating! I've been busy with a theatre internship that I'm working with for almost the whole summer and I've also been addicted to my new Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 game. Anyway, on with the chapter!**

Chapter 9: Sunset Horizons

**Lune's POV**

I washed my face of the tears that my eyes created after my recent fight with my uncle. I thought I could trust that filthy bastard, but I was wrong big time! Just like my old man, he was a selfish liar! While washing out my eyes, I looked at my reflection in the water. I looked like such a wimp whenever I cried. That Pokemon that was in the water that looked like he was just crying wasn't me. He was just a crying wimp that shouldn't exist. Especially if he's looking for a mate.

After having some disgusting thoughts about my reflection, I had finished wiping the tears and started to head over towards Milotic falls since it was getting close to dusk. Along the way, I walked through a field of hundreds of flowers. It gave me an idea. I looked around the ten plus different kinds of flowers trying to decide which ones Solana would like the best. Hmm, a kiss might be moving to quick, but nobody ever said anything about giving flowers being a problem. So, I did what a normal Pokemon did, which was follow my instincts.

Roses? I checked a rosebush and thought about picking a couple of roses for her, but they had sharp thorns on the stems and it hurt to pick them in my mouth. So, those were a big no-no. Sunflowers? Nah, everybody gives sunflowers. Cherry blossoms? They were a little too difficult to pick since they were so small. Violets or daffodils? Nah, too dark in color. Daisies? No way, due to the fact that they had all that sticky sap on their stems. Dammit, I checked nearly every single kind of flower in this field and none of them seemed to be good enough to be picked up! I sat in the middle of the field and just looked around one last time.

That was when is saw the perfect flower. There was a pile of them separating themselves from the rest of the flowers. I walked over with their fluffy tops hypnotizing my eyes. When I made it to the flowers, I rubbed my snout in one of them. Boy, I haven't seen a dandelion in the longest time. I remember the first time I saw and rubbed myself in one. I was just a young Eevee and my mother took me out to play and we both rolled in a field of dandelions. After going back in time to my memories, I picked up the entire pile and headed off the Milotic Falls. Boy, Solana was going to love these. Girls love dandelions!

I finally arrived at Milotic Falls after a nice walk along the river that was at the bottom of the falls. Solana wasn't there yet, but it just turned dusk, so I guess she was on her way. I sat right at the edge of the river and waited. For some reason, I was getting goosebumps and butterflies in my stomach. Nobody had ever told me what was up with these sudden feelings. I had never been taught what these are symptoms of. Oh well, I ignored them and continued to wait for Solana.

"Lune!" I heard a voice call from behind me. I was hoping it was Solana, but it wasn't. Instead, it was Abby and Hikaru.

"Oh, hey guys." I replied after taking a deep breath.

"So, you ready for your big date tonight?" Hikaru asked.

"Yep, I think so."

"You should be. You had all day to prepare." Abby said as she sat next to me.

"I know. But, I'm still nervous." I shivered a little.

"Does this mean you like her?" Hikaru teased me a bit.

"Of course I do! If I didn't like her, I wouldn't be going out with her, right?"

"No. Hikaru is talking about do you like her as in you have a crush on her?" Abby shook her head.

"Well…I'm not sure. Is this what it sounds like?" They both nodded. "Then yes. I think I do have a crush on her."

"Then you should tell her!" Hikaru suggested.

"What? Are you crazy? I've only known her for about a week! I can't suddenly tell her how I feel!"

"Oh yes you should! That's the whole point of a date!" My annoying Pikachu friend then picked up my flowers and started to do a demonstration. "You take the girl out for a nice romantic dinner! Make sure you catch her favorites. After dinner, a nice stroll along the river will set the mood. Once the sun has fully set and the moon and stars are shining, you confess your feelings toward her! And once that's taken care of, you go in and make your move with a goodnight kiss to end the evening!" Hikaru finished off his demonstration by puckering his lips towards Abby who just stepped back in disgust.

"I…can't." I said with my head low.

"What're you so afraid of?"

"Nothing. I just don't want things to move so quickly."

"Lune, don't listen to Hikaru. You and Solana should move things at your own pace, especially if Solana's been through all of that with her previous boyfriend." Abby suggested.

"Yeah, you're right. I guess the slower we move then the better friends we'll be." I nodded in agreement.

"Hey! Here she comes!" Abby said in a loud whisper.

"Good luck, man!" Hikaru wished me luck before they both dashed off into hiding.

"Wait, guys!"

I tried to get their attention back, but they were gone quicker than a Kadabra using Teleport. Not knowing what to do, I scrambled around making sure that I was ready. I picked up the flowers and sat there at the river waiting for Solana. Towards my direction, she came. My mouth gaped open in awe and I dropped the flowers. She looked beautiful and she wasn't even wearing anything special in her ear or anything like that. It was just her. I thought she looked really pretty when I saw her at Lucy's wedding, but when I saw her now, I thought she looked the best. I guess that's when I realized that I was seeing Solana's true inner beauty.

Solana walked over towards me. The young Espeon had a smile that said she was ready to have a great time tonight. I couldn't help but grin back at her. Looks like my mom was right. Grins and smiles are very contagious She stood there just about a foot or two away from me and like the idiot I am, I just stood there and stared at her. It's like I suddenly entered a whole different world when we made eye contact. I felt like I wasn't in reality anymore, but I needed to if I was going to pull off this evening smoothly.

"Hey, Lune." She greeted me. I hurriedly grabbed the flowers that fell onto the ground and straightened up.

"Uh…hey, Solana." I greeted her with my mouth full.

"Sorry I took a while. I was having a talk with Taka."

"Hey, no biggie." Then I walked closer to her and set the flowers in front of her. "I picked these for you on the way. I hope you like dandelions."

"D-dandelions?" She asked after sniffing them. "A-A-ACHOO!" Within seconds, she sneezed a lot blowing all of the fluff off of them. I fell back over a rock as well. After I got up, she rubbed her eyes and sniffled a bit. "Sorry, I'm allergic to dandelions."

"No! Don't be sorry! It was my fault." I said with my head and ears low. "I didn't know you were allergic. Dandelions brought back memories of my mother and I, so I thought you may like them too."

"Well, it's the thought that counts, right?" Solana laughed.

"Yeah." I nodded in reply. "So, are you hungry?"

"Actually, I'm not. I went out to lunch with friends and we ate a bunch. But, if you're hungry, we can eat right now."

"Nah, I can wait. But if you're hungry, we could…" I stopped after realizing I was repeating what she said. "Never mind." We both laughed.

"You wanna take a walk?" Solana offered.

I nodded and took her offer. It was a really relaxing walk. Unfortunately, due to my previous experiences with Mota, I was worried about how this was going to turn out, but it was better than I expected. There were times where we'd catch each other looking at the other, but we'd turn away quickly. We mainly talked about the usual stuff that you talk about when you meet someone. You know, their interests, favorite food, favorite hobbies, and just basic stuff, nothing really special. It ended up getting awkwardly silent, which I wasn't liking, so I had to think of something.

"Hey, you ever heard of any great Pokemon jokes?"

"Well…I am a Pokemon. And I live with Pokemon. And I am friends with Pokemon. So, yeah, I think I have." She answered. Damn, that was probably the stupidest question I've asked all day. "But, I enjoy hearing them. So, if you have one, try me."

"Okay." I thought for a minute. "What is a Pikachu's favorite candy?" She shrugged. "Shock tarts!" We both laughed.

"That was a good one." Solana said as she laughed. "Got anymore?"

"Hmm, okay, I got one! How do you fit 500 Charizard on a bus?"

"You shrink them?"

"Nope, you poke em on!" I answered the joke. At first she didn't get it, but then she broke out laughing along with me.

"Here's a good one! What Pokemon do you get if you put a parrot in a washing machine?" Solana decided to tell one.

"I dunno. What?"

"A Poliwhirl!" She answered. We ended up falling onto the ground in laugher. I can't remember the last time I laughed like this with a friend. It felt great to finally let loose and have a little fun. "Wow. Great jokes!"

"Yeah." I agreed. We stood up and looked out over the falls. "It's beautiful."

"Oh yes, it is." Solana sat down on the edge. "I always like to come up here at dusk because of how gorgeous the sun looks as it's setting." I lay down next to her to join her.

"Do you come up here by yourself?" I asked. She nodded. "Don't you ever get lonely sometimes?"

"Not really. I was never really the lonely type, just sensitive."

Solana was starting to remind me of myself. I always thought I was the tough, yet lonely type of Pokemon. Now, that I think about it, I was never really lonely and I was more sensitive than anything. I had my mother, my childhood friends, and a home to sleep in. That's all I really needed in my life when I was younger, but to be honest, that wasn't all that I really wanted in my life. There was just one thing missing in life, a father. Sure, I had a father by blood, but never by love. Maybe I wasn't lonely in general, but I was lonely when it came to wanting to be with my old man and just having him shove me out of his life. I remember seeing all of the other little Pokemon I was friends with and watching them play with their dads. Damn, I hated thinking about those memories. They were painful as hell.

"Lune?" Solana asked snapping me back to reality. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I said with my head low.

"You look so sad."

"I'm not. I'm just…lost."

"In what?" Solana seemed interested.

"Memories. Painful memories. Now that I thought about them, it made me realize that you remind me a lot of myself."

"How?"

"Well, I was never really the lonely type either. I'm just sensitive like you. But, there was still one thing in my life that kept a part of me lonely."

"What was that?" She asked getting closer to me.

"My father." I answered with my claws sticking into the ground. She gasped.

"You shouldn't say that about your father!"

"I have my reasons!" I spat back. Solana stepped back a bit. "I'm sorry. It's just that, my childhood sucked, that's all. And he's the reason because of it."

"What did he do to you?"

"My old man, he just…he never cared about me. He always acted so distant when I was an Eevee. I never saw him happy unless he found some way to control my life and it was going his way. I know him and my mother were deeply in love with each other, but they'd constantly argue, so I'd never really see the bond that they had. But, that's not the point. The point is that he wasn't the father I wanted him to be. My childhood friends, I remember watching them play with their dads. I'd feel left out since I would be the only one without a father. There were times where I'd play with someone else's dad, and it was fun, but it wasn't the same. I remember one time, when I was little, my old man had promised to take me walking up to the mountains to show me the forest from a high point of view, but he broke his promise. Even after begging much, he yelled in my face saying he had it with me and kicked me to the side like I was a piece of paper. I remember crying that day for a long time. I even ended up getting lost and having to be found by my mother. As I grew older, he never changed as I had hoped. Eventually, just recently, he tried to control my life once again. I showed him the anger I had been holding inside all these years, but it didn't do a damn bit of good. Instead, it got me just another strike across the face from his sharp claws. At that point, I decided that I had it with him and left home. I haven't seen or heard from him since then." I told my long story.

"That sounds terrible. I'm so sorry. I had no idea it was that bad." Solana apologized as I sat up. "My father was similar to that too. Only, he wasn't abusive. He was just the type who would get out of control if something didn't go his way. I had this boyfriend before I came to live here. He proposed to me, but I refused his offer because I thought I wasn't ready for marriage, but he got out of control and started beating me. So, I ran home to my mother and father and told them of the fight I had with my boyfriend. My father then started to get out of control when I told him I refused the proposal. My mother at first started to side with me, but my big mouth got my mother siding against me and with my father. Eventually, we made it official not to call ourselves family anymore. I refused to call him my father and he refused to call me his daughter." Solana also told her story. I had heard it before when Taka told me about Solana's life, but I never knew how bad it sounded until she told it. "To be quite honest, even though we had a fight, I miss my parents deeply. My nickname to them was 'sunshine' and it stuck with me since then. The thought of me becoming just like my father also stuck to me. It seemed like he had some sort of a control issue and in the end, it's going to destroy him"

"It seems as if my father has some sort of darkness inside of him. Just like you think about your father, the darkness inside of my old man may destroy him in the end of his life." I sighed and turned away from Solana. "Maybe there's a darkness in me too."

It hurt to think of myself that way. Naturally, young Pokemon follow their parents' paw prints and become just like them when they hit adulthood. The thought of me becoming just like my old man scared the shit out of me. I didn't want to be like him. I didn't want to be an abusive and negligent father to my future child. I wanted to be the kind of father that wanted to play with his kids. The type who would have to argue with his mate about who gets to cuddle with the kids next. Unfortunately, due to nature, the chances of me becoming just like my dad were high. I felt awful about it. I couldn't even bear to look at Solana now due to how upsetting it was to think about that. In fact, it made me feel like a young Eevee now just wanting some comfort from his mother.

Comfort was what I wanted, so I got it. Solana leaned over to me and started to nuzzle my face. I could tell she was suffering as much as I was. It did make me feel good that someone was trying to comfort me, I'll admit. Following my instincts, I nuzzled her back. The softness of her lavender fur calmed my inner emotions down as I embraced the care that she was showing for me. I started to feel the same way I'd always feel whenever my mother would comfort me when I was back at home. Dammit, I'm starting to sound like a mama's boy even though I'm the exact opposite. After a few minutes of comfort from Solana, I moved away from her a little.

"Uh…sorry." I stood up and turned around.

"I guess I asked the wrong thing, did I?" Solana guessed.

"Nah, it's bad for me to keep things in anyway."

"If you want to leave, that's okay. We can have dinner some other night." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice. At first, I did think about maybe going home and coming out on a better night, but I'd hurt her feelings and that's the last thing I ever want to do. So, I set my feelings aside and decided to continue on with the evening.

"You know, Solana. My childhood memories are painful to think about, but I can't let that get in the way of a fun evening." At that point, I started to cheer up again. "So, let's forget about bad memories."

"Yeah, you're right." Solana agreed. "Hey, the sky's dark now."

"Look at all the constellations." I looked around the sky. "Doesn't that one look like a giant scrap of meat?"

"No, it looks like a flower." She laughed. "I think you're hungry because I'm hungry too."

"You wanna go hunt now?" I offered.

"Okay, but why don't we make this interesting?" Solana asked. "Why don't we make this a little competition? First one to meet back here with the most food caught wins."

"What does he win?"

"I don't know we'll decide her prize when she wins."

"Okay." I got in a ready position. "Ready? Go!

I dashed off towards the fields where I could get my hunting done. I never expected this on a date, but hey, I'm cool with whatever. The only thing that matters is I'm having a great time.

**Author's Note: Ha! I'm evil! I stopped right in the middle! So, please leave a review and I'll update it ASAP!**


	10. Moonlight

**Author's Note: Hey! It's big! It's the tenth chapter! So, enjoy the chapter and Happy 4****th**** of July to you Americans out there!**

Chapter 10: Moonlight

**Lune's POV**

I crept in the grass as I targeted my next victim. A small Rattata that looked unaware of anything that was going on around him. Really sneakily, and slowly, I got closer to what was to become my dinner. With the other dead Pidgey and Spearow being carried by my tail, I pounced onto the small rat Pokemon killing him and claiming him my meal. After confirming that he was dead, I added him to my pile of food. So far, I had three Pidgey, one Spearow, and that one Rattata that I had just caught. This little competition between Solana and I was definitely mine.

Then, it hit me.

One way to win a competition is to soften up the opponent. My idea of softening up is not only taking back dinner to the girl, but taking her dessert as well. So, I walked on over to a few fruit-bearing trees and found some Pecha berries. I grabbed about six of those and added them to my pile. I realized that there was no way I could carry everything with my tail, so I grabbed a large leaf from nearby and placed everything on top. Then, I'd pull it with my tail like a child when he's pulling his friends in a wagon. My time was almost up. The night flowers were almost ready to open up for the evening. So, I quickly grabbed a few Pinap berries before heading back to Milotic Falls.

I was on top of the falls before I knew it. Solana wasn't there yet. She must've gone really far in order to not be back yet. Then again, the night flowers weren't lit yet and we established that we had to be back by the time the night flowers opened up and lit up the evening. I lay down next to my food looking down into the river. I saw a bunch of Remoraid swimming by in the river. I decided to follow my instincts and catch a few fish. There was a big one coming my way. I lowered myself up to where the water was up to the ankles of my front paws. I held one of my front paws up and struck the water with it hoping to get the fish. I missed.

"Watch where you swing that paw!" I heard a female's voice laughing from behind me. My blood boiled in my face as soon as I heard her voice.

"How long were you there?" I asked slowly turning around.

"Since you started lowering yourself."

"Well, anyway. So, how much food did you catch?" I sat up getting down to business.

"How much did you catch?" She asked me as well, obviously wanting me to answer first.

"Five." I revealed my leaf full of food. "Three Pidgey, one Spearow, and one Rattata."

"Hmm, not bad." She then stepped aside and revealed her leaf that was obviously loaded with about twice as much as I caught. "I caught ten."

"Wow, you sure know how to hunt." I gazed at what was to become our feast. "But, I should win because I brought dessert."

"Oh wow, you brought five Pecha and two Pinap berries." She said sarcastically. I blushed and looked down with my ears hanging low.

"Okay, what do I have to do?"

"Hmm…" Solana then showed an evil grin. "You have to go kiss a Goldeen."

"What?" I asked in shock. "Those things have such BIG lips!"

"You should've thought of that before losing the competition." She laughed while perching on a rock to watch the scene.

I sighed in defeat. There was absolutely no way to talk her out of this one. So, I just played by the rules and went into the river searching for a Goldeen to kiss. I found one--a small one--and I grabbed with one of my front paws and kissed her humongous lips before throwing her back into the water. Damn, I hope I never have to do that again. I walked back looking up at Solana who was laughing her ass off. Yes, this was going to be something that I was going to look back at ten years later and laugh. By the time I had reached our little spot, I was starving, so was Solana.

We went ahead and settled down before starting to dick into our meals. I must say, Solana really does know how to hunt the right Pokemon. The Rattata that she caught were a lot tastier than mine were. She pretty much caught the same Pokemon as I did except for she actually caught some Remoraid as well. After eating nearly every single of the Pokemon and one of the berries, we lay down on our backs with full stomachs. I can't remember the last time I had eaten so much. I didn't really care. I was pretty much on holiday tonight and when you're on holiday, you splurge. Solana sat up first and then I did the same.

"Wow, I can't eat another bite." She took a deep breath.

"We still have dessert."

"Actually, to be honest, I had never tried any berries."

"Seriously?" I asked with my eyes wide.

"Yeah, I remember my mother telling me when I was a young Eevee that some of the trees and fruits are poisonous because of the bug Pokemon that crawl on the trees. And I've never been able to tell which plants are poisonous and which aren't, so I've decided to just pass each time."

"Oh, it's easy to tell. The poisonous ones have fuzz on the fruits. They feels fuzzy. If they're smooth, they're fresh." I picked one up with my tail and held it up to her. "Here, try one. They're really sweet."

Solana then moved closer and, at first hesitant, took a bite of the Pecha berry. I felt kind of strange feeding her the berry. Feeding food to another Pokemon is usually what I see with either romantic couples or a mother feeding her newborn child. It seemed really awkward to me, but I guess it's because I have no experience. I watched as she chewed on the berry embracing the sweet flavors that the berry had to offer. She then leaned on towards me and took another bite of the berry finishing it off. Once the berry was finished, I threw away what was left.

"It's really sweet." She licked her lips getting any juice that was on there.

"This one is my favorite."

I picked up one of the Pinap berries and held it up for her to eat. She took a bite of that one and seemed more in heaven than she was when she tried the Pecha. She seemed to enjoy this one better. Solana, instead of taking another bite of the berry, came up and nudged the berry towards me. She wanted to me to take a bite now. So, I did what she wanted. I took a bite of the fruit taking in the sweet pineapple flavored taste. I then held the Pinap up to Solana so she could finish it off. She took the last bite and the berry was finished. Once that was done, I threw away what was left like I did with the last one.

"Damn, that's my favorite kind of berry." I said in a deep sigh still tasting the sweet taste in my mouth.

"Mine too." She sighed.

Solana had her eyes closed. Once she was done saying that, I looked up and noticed something that not just me, but all Umbreon enjoy. It was a full moon. I stood up on all fours and dashed over to a large boulder where I perched and stared off into the distance. I loved the moon when she was in her full view. The way she sparkles in the sky giving her surrounding stars the light that we see tonight makes me feel…good. It makes me feel like I'm in heaven. If only every night were like this.

"Lune?" Solana asked getting my attention. "What's up with your…"

I looked at myself. That's right, an Umbreon's rings glow in the evening. Solana was just gazing at my rings now. I wasn't sure whether she was doing this in a good way or if she thought it was just strange for my rings to glow like this. I had always liked having my rings glow in the dark. It always helped me or a friend find my way through whenever it was dark.

"In the evening, an Umbreon's rings glow in the dark. You probably didn't notice at Lucy's party because the whole place was lit up, but in an unlit area like here, they're noticeable. It kind of makes hunting difficult because prey can sometimes see use through the grass." I sighed and looked down. "I know what you're thinking. Go ahead and say it."

"You…you're beautiful." Solana said softly. I looked at her in shock. "I've never seen another Pokemon glow like that. It's…amazing."

"Thanks." I slightly blushed.

"I wonder, do they help you cheat is a game of hide-and-go-seek?" She asked interested.

"Maybe. Want to give it a try?" I offered.

She nodded and immediately went to find a hiding place. I shut my eyes for a few seconds and then went to find her. So far, my rings are giving me the upper advantage. In fact, I was able to see her through a bush. Solana was lying down on the ground with her arms over her head. She looked like a small Eevee who was cowering from a large Rampardos that is about to step on it. I got a mischievous look on my face when I thought about taking her by surprise. I crept around a corner, and hid a little as snuck up closer to her. Once I was at the perfect spot to pounce, I counted to three and made my move.

Except, it ended up being an epic failure. By the time I had finished my pounce, she wasn't behind the bush anymore. In fact, I didn't see her anywhere. I actually started to freak out a little thinking that maybe something came and got her while I was trying to prepare my pounce. I ran around the area where I saw her last calling her name out at the top of my lungs. Now, I was really worried. Even with my rings I couldn't see her. However, just as I thought things were far from worse, I saw a Pokemon pounce and land right in front of me. It was Solana! I was now lying on my back considering she nearly gave me a heart attack.

"Gotcha!" She laughed.

"How were you able to avoid me?" I asked curiously.

"I can see the future."

"Cheater!" I got up on all fours and started to chase her around.

Eventually, I ended up tripping on a stick and fell into the river. Luckily, I was a strong enough swimmer that I was able to pull myself out of the water easily. I guess having a Vaporeon for a mother had its advantages. Solana sat there a few feet in front of me looking innocent like she didn't do anything. Oh yeah, she's definitely innocent, I thought to myself. After shaking the water off of my drenched fur coat. I started chasing her again. We ran up a tall hill that were filled with a large amount of flowers. I guess you can say that we sort of frolicked through the flowers despite how cheesy that sounds right now.

We had been chasing each other down for a while now and were out of breath right now. Solana stopped at the top of the hill to catch her breath while I kept on running towards her and accidentally crashing into her. Due to my head on crash with her, instead of staying on the hills, we started rolling down the hill. By the time we were at the bottom, we were laughing like crazy. It was when I was done laughing that I realized that Solana ended up on top of me.

I could see that were both blushing like crazy. Our faces were only inches apart at this point as well. Just like she did at the party, Solana just lay there on top of me and her lips curled into a grin. Her grins were contagious. My lips curled into one as well as the awkward moment continued on. I tell you, this was a whole new experience for me. I actually kind of enjoyed this new experience. It was nice not having experienced this awkward moment with a girl before because now it seems so fresh to me. Solana's smile looked like she was asking for it, so I followed my instincts. I lifted my head and leaned my face towards hers. She closed her eyes as if she was waiting for me to make my move. I wasn't exactly sure if all male Pokemon were like this when they first attempted to kiss a girl or if I was just nervous as hell.

"Whoa! Looks like you guys are getting busy!" I was suddenly interrupted. My eyes were wider than my paws now as I looked to the side to see who was eavesdropping on us. It was Hikaru and Abby.

"I told you not to interrupt them!" Abby scolded Hikaru. Solana quickly got off of me at this point.

"Nothing happened!" I quickly got on all fours. "Besides, what are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we were interested to see how your date was going, but I can see that it's going better than I thought." Hikaru said perching on a rock next to me and elbowing me.

"Yeah, it's…a lot of…fun." I said slightly embarrassed.

"Good." Abby nodded. "Now, Hikaru, it's TIME TO GO." She then grabbed Hikaru with her vines and started taking him away.

"Aww, but I want to watch the kiss!" The Pikachu whined as he was being carried away. When they were out of sight, I turned to Solana where she was cleaning behind one of her ears.

"Sorry about them, they can be trouble sometimes, but you'll learn to love them." I apologized.

"Let me guess, it was the Pikachu's idea to crash Lucy's party." Solana chuckled.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"It's not hard to guess by his personality."

"Right." I looked down to the ground.

"Well, anyway, it's getting late. I should be getting home. Besides, I promised Lucy that I'd help her and her mate find a new home tomorrow and she's an early riser. They want to start a family as soon as possible, so they're trying to find a home that's suitable for raising children in."

"Okay. I'll walk you home." I offered.

"No, you don't have to. You live on the other side of the forest. It'd be an awfully long walk. Besides, I kind of need some time alone to think." Solana said as she stood up on all fours and pointed towards her home near Luxray territory.

"You sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Really, you should go home an rest up yourself."

"Well…okay." I gave in. "But here…" I pulled a purple flower off a bush that was right behind me and gave it to her. "Keep it as a token of tonight. I really had a great time tonight, and I don't want to forget it."

"Neither do I." She agreed with the flower in her mouth. "Well, good-night."

Solana turned around and started heading home. Oh boy, I thought to myself. My instincts were really getting to me now. She seemed fine tonight, but she may not be fine now. Usually, I'd follow the smart thing to do, but right now, I'm going to do what a Pokemon does, which is follow his or her instincts.

"Solana…" I called her name. She stopped and looked at me as I walked to her. I took a deep breath and quickly kissed her on the cheek. I felt her freeze a bit and I broke away within two seconds. "Good-night."

I said my last word before taking off for my home. Wow, I couldn't believe that I just did that. Either she was freezing because she liked or she hated it. I'll go back and see her tomorrow and see how she's doing. Tonight will determine whether we stay supposedly friends or whether we never speak to each other again.

**Author's Note: Yay! Done! Again, sorry for the slow update! I'll try and get more updates up ASAP! Be sure to leave a review peeps! **


	11. Regret

**Author's Note: Well, here's chapter 11 of the fanfic! Yes, I'm definitely feeling motivated to write this now since my summer theatre group is doing **_**Romeo and Juliet**_** (which I LOVE Romeo in our play ^^)for their Shakespeare production and yeah, you all know how that goes. Oh yeah, and by the way, this chapter won't have anything to do with Lune or Solana, sorry. Anyway, read and review!**

Chapter 11: Regret

**Yaku's POV**

I sat there on my favorite rock that was in front of my large cave as I watched my nephew walk over towards where his cave was located. It was late in the evening, so he must've been returning home from his date with Solana. Right now, all I wanted to do was talk to him, but after the fight we got into earlier, I didn't dare to even get within a hundred feet of him. Besides, it's not like I wanted to confront him on love. I was actually curious to see how his date went just like any other uncle would if he was notified about a date with a special girl. I stood up and looked over at my nephew, but I seized myself and planted my rear back on my rock.

Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn't have talked to Lune about my past. Maybe he was right. Maybe it is his decision on whether to be involved with romance or not. I couldn't bear to think about it. I stood up and headed back over to my cave. Before I could, though, I felt something soft on my shoulder. I looked back and found Takeshi. He had his wing on my shoulder and was looking at me, for once, with a sympathetic look. I found it ironic since he wasn't really the friendliest Pokemon I knew. In fact, he was one of the most vicious. Still, I didn't care about how ironic he was acting right now.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I created a same kind of relationship with my nephew that my brother had with him." I answered with my head low.

"He's going to forgive you."

"No he won't."

"Come on. It couldn't have been that bad, could've it?" Takeshi flew in front of me preventing me from going inside. "What REALLY happened, in detail?"

"I…can't say it."

"Was it that bad?"

"To Lune and I, it was."

"I'm listening." The young Fearow made himself comfortable obviously not leaving me alone until I told him.

"Takeshi, you and Yami are like sons to me, so I'll tell you. I told my nephew…not to fall…in love." I barely choked out. His eyes were widened.

"That's it?? That's not THAT bad! Either you're making a big deal about this or Lune is just a big sensitive ball of fur!"

"No, you don't understand. He had a date with a girl when I told him that and I was pretty much telling him to cancel his date." I clarified.

"Wow, you REALLY screwed up big time!" Takeshi shook his head with his eyes closed. "Why don't you give it a few days? Maybe Lune will come around and start talking to you again."

"I hope so. I'd hate to have the same relationship that my brother has with him."

* * *

Hours turned to days and days turned into a week. It had been exactly one week since I've spoken with my nephew. Although I haven't been talking to him, I've been doing a little eavesdropping on him. He seemed so lost for the past few days. Not in a bad way, but in a good way. Lune would be laying down on the grass rolling around taking in the scent of the surrounding flowers. Or he would just sit under a tree in the shade and talk with his friends. It's almost like he's a whole new Pokemon. He wasn't the same Umbreon that I knew when he first came here. There was only one explanation for this kind of behavior.

Lune has fallen in love.

I know he keeps saying that he's not in love with Solana and that he's just trying to get to know her, but I have a feeling that when he went on that date, it struck him like lightning. He probably has that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you're in love. However, with love, comes stress and heartbreaks. Lune doesn't understand now, but when he gets his heart broken, then he'll know what I was talking about. I worry about how he's going to take it when the day comes. He's a tough kid, but he can also be very sensitive. I guess there's nothing I can do except let Lune go with the flow.

"Has he said anything?" Takeshi asked as he perched next to me.

"No, but I've noticed his change in behavior." I looked down at my nephew, who was talking to his friends. "I think he's in love."

"You think?" He asked sarcastically.

"I love him, Takeshi. He's my only nephew and I don't want to see him get hurt."

"Well, it's like the old saying: 'no pain, no gain'. Lune's eventually going to get hurt in some way and there's nothing you can do. It's how nature works, Yaku."

"I guess you're right, Takeshi."

"So what if your nephew's in love? Let him fall in love! If he gets his heart broken, then that's just how it's gonna be!"

"You know what, you're absolutely right. Lune was right too. It's his life, his decision, his free will." I said standing up. "Thanks, Takeshi. I'm gonna go apologize to Lune, now."

"Yaku!" I looked back and saw Yami running towards me.

"Yami? What's the big hurry?"

"Orre Meadow! You have to come see this for yourself!"

I nodded in agreement and followed Yami. Takeshi also flew above us. There was obviously something wrong with the meadow if Yami rushed into the forest to find me. Plus, something didn't smell right. It didn't smell like the peaceful, clean forest that I lived in a few weeks ago. I dashed across the open fields, splashed through the lakes and fought my way through many bushes to keep up with Yami and Takeshi. Damn, not being as young as I used to be is really pulling me down a little. I'm already panting out and I'm not even half way to the meadow.

After taking a few breathers, we arrived at the meadow. I didn't see what the problem was. It just seemed like the normal meadow that I always see every day. When I first started walking a little, Yami yanked me down to the ground and told me to stay very low. I had a feeling there was something dangerous in the meadow and that's the reason for staying very low. We crawled through some tall grass and stuck our heads up every now and then to check our surroundings. Yami warned me to keep my eyes peeled for traps. Traps? Sounds like it may be hunting season once again and that's what Yami's dragging me into the meadow to see.

I was right.

Indeed, it was hunting season. The tents were up. The jeeps were parked. The cages were being unloaded onto the ground. However, something else seemed different. Hunting season was never a problem for us, but if Yami had come rushing to find me, then they must be planning a new strategy. Yami and I got a little closer and we listened in on their strategy, or at least we tried to. I didn't hear the whole thing, but I did hear something about traps all around the meadow and…setting the meadow on FIRE????

Now, that was the final straw! There was no way I was going to let these jerks set my forest on fire! Takeshi joined us at the bottom and we huddled up to try and think of a plan to stop them from lighting the meadow in flames. I knew we couldn't stop the traps because they were going to set them no matter what and even so, we never had trouble with traps. The Pokemon that live here are too smart for the humans. Once we had the plan ready, we broke off into our positions. It was time for me to get into defensive mode and save my father's forest.

Yami and I hid in the tall grass while Takeshi started flying around making noises. Luckily, he knew the move Agility, so whenever the hunters tried to shoot at him, he would dodge the bullets easily. While he was distracting the humans. Yami and I looked around their tent and jeep for anything that they can use to set the place on fire. There were so many things that hunters bring that it made searching for these items the most difficult thing I had ever done.

"They sure do bring a lot of crap just to hunt for a weekend." I mumbled.

"So, what're we looking for?" Yami asked.

"Items that can set the forest on fire. We have to get rid of them."

"What sets the forest on fire other than flames burning plants?"

"Gas, wood, matches, and I once saw someone using some sort of a lighter." I answered looking around for those items.

"Dammit!" Yami groaned in frustration. "There's so much crap here! At this rate, we'll never find anything."

"Listen, Takeshi annoys others for a living. If he could annoy that one Scottish bagpipe player enough to make him leave, then he can definitely distract these guys."

"But, the Scottish guy was afraid of birds."

"You get my point. Now, look!" I demanded.

There was just too much around for us to see. These humans had items from boxes to bags to canned food. One of which was canned meatballs, which Yami and I had always enjoyed. Last time we tried them, there were a three Pokemon trainers, one of which had a red cap with a blue Pokeball on it and his partner was a Pikachu, one of which had long blue hair and her partner was a Piplup, and then the third one, the tall one, had spiky hair and cooked. He's the one who let us try the meatballs that he made for his recipe. As of that day, one of our favorites were meatballs. So, we took a little detour in our search and popped open the can and splurged on the balls of ground meat smothered in tomato sauce.

"Boy, these things are just to die for." Yami sighed dreamily.

"I like the ones that the Pokemon trainer gave us better."

"Yaku! Yami!" Takeshi flew right above us.

"How's the distracting going?" Yami asked.

"Great! I led the hunters into the woods so they should be lost for about another 20 mintutes."

"You led them WHERE????" I asked angrily. "That's where the forest is!"

"No! Not those woods! The OTHER woods! The ones that keep leading you in circles until you find your way back to were you started, but you might want to stop eating meatballs and get searching because I don't know if they're really going to stay lost for 20 minutes." Takeshi warned us before flying off again.

"Right, Takeshi's right. We can't get distracted anymore. If we're going to save Orre Forest from becoming a burning wasteland, we have to get rid of anything flammable." I said before I started sniffing around for things. Yami nodded in agreement and we went back to work.

After searching, I finally found a carton of gasoline. Yami found matches and a lighter. He grabbed those while I grabbed the gasoline, which was unbelievably heavy. Once we had our jaws wrapped around those items, we heard one of the humans yell at us. Dammit! We were caught, but we already had the items, so we rushed out of their little campsite and started heading in random directions just so we can find a place to hide. Luckily, we still had the items and didn't end up dropping them like I was afraid we would. We ended up finding a hiding place in this hole in a tree. It was quite small, so we were quite cramped in there, but at least the humans weren't able to see us.

We wanted to make a run for the desert that was just outside of Orre Meadow, so we could get rid of these items without setting the forest on fire. As soon as the hunters were out of sight, I squeezed my way out of the hole and started crawling through the tall grass with the gasoline carton in my mouth. Takeshi was still distracting the hunters so we could make a run for it before anybody caught us, once again. After we felt we had crawled a good distance away, we stood up and started running at full speed. I saw the rock that looked like a Rhydon while running, so I knew we were close, but…SNAP! I got caught in one of the hunter's traps. I wasn't sure what it was called, but it looked like two jaws of teeth wrapped around my now bleeding front paw. One of my back paws was also caught in a rope that rang a bell whenever I moved it.

"Ow! Shit!" I groaned at the pain on my front paw.

"Yaku!" Yami dropped the items and ran over to me. Takeshi also flew down to me. "Hold on, we'll get you out of this thing!"

"Yeah! Don't worry!" Takeshi agreed as they both tried to get the metal trap off my front paw.

"No! Don't waste your energy on that one! Try and snap the rope off! I'll get this one off when I get back to the forest!" I stopped them. "Hurry! I think I've rung the bell enough for the hunters to know where I am."

"Right!" They both said. Within a few seconds, both boys started biting at the rope, only to immediately jump when they bit it and yelp in pain.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We don't know." Yami said as he tried to bite it. "Ow! I think this thing is electrocuted!"

"What? Bullshit!" I argued as I tried to bite it myself. "Ow! Shit, it is electrocuted! These hunters are a lot smarter than the ones from last year." Within that moment, I heard human voices and what sounded like snarling Pokemon coming this direction.

"Come on, Yami! They're coming back and I can't hold them off anymore!" Takeshi panicked and he kept trying to yank off the rope regardless of how painful it was.

"I know! What the hell do you think I'm doing?" Yami argued as he tried to yank off the metal trap. Eventually, I had decided that I had enough of their arguing and that I was going to need more help than I thought.

"Boys!" I shut them up. They listened. "Listen, you need to get out of here and get back to Orre Forest!"

"What? Why?" They both asked.

"If they find you here, they'll get you as well. Listen, I need you guys to hurry back to Orre Forest and find Lune. Find my nephew and bring him here to help. I know he'll be able to do it."

"Are you sure?" Takeshi asked.

"If he's anything like his father, he'll fight to the death. Now go!" I demanded.

"But, Yaku…" Yami argued. "What if something happens to you while we're gone? You were like a father to Takeshi and I."

"I know, the same thing goes for me. You guys are like sons that never had, which is why I need you boys to be safe and go get my nephew." The three of us then joined in a group hug before I made one last demand. "Now go!" They started off, but stopped to look at me for a few seconds. "GO!" I roared at them before they finally took off at full speed.

Once they were out of sight, a few thoughts came to me. If something does happen to me, then this would've been the last time that I saw Yami and Takeshi, and that day last week would've been the last time I saw my nephew. The hunters arrived at where I was trapped. They were carrying guns and one of them had a Houndoom partner and one of them had a Manectric partner. I didn't bother to fight them because they would've just shot me anyway. I lay there staring up at the hunters awaiting my fate.

**Author's Note: Oh my gosh! What's going on here? Looks like we'll just have to wait and see! Sorry if it's shorter than usualy, but please be sure to leave a review please!**


	12. Something New

**Author's Note: Yay! Chapter 12! This fanfic's moving smoothly, so let's keep it that way, ok? By the way, this chapter and the next one will both take place at the same time that chapter 11 took place, so the next two chapters will be chapter 11 in a different POV. So, read and review please!**

Chapter 12: Something New

**Lune's POV**

I slept peacefully for the past few nights, deep in thought. There was no way I was going to lose sleep tonight regardless of how late I stayed up. Instead of tossing and turning thinking about stressful things in life, I slept hard as a rock. I never moved once. Almost like I was sleeping like a baby. Well, anyway, it was the first time that I slept so well in the longest time and it felt good too. For once, I didn't wake up feeling that I was being forced to wake up and I didn't feel groggy. Instead, I felt fresh and rested. In fact, I even took in the morning's scent when I came out of my cave.

The day was beautiful. The sun was shining and the bird Pokemon were chirping. Eager to get the day started, I walked on down to watering hole and gave myself a bath in the small waterfall. A lot of other Pokemon noticed how much of a good mood I was in and other Pokemon were in good moods as well. There must be something going on in the forest. This one Gyarados who tried to kill me when I first arrived at the forest greeted me in the morning and pointed out a great spot to catch fish for breakfast. This one Persian and her three little Meowth babies greeted me in the morning and complimented me on my shiny fur coat. There is something up with everybody.

For breakfast, I caught myself some fish since I was in too much of a good mood to kill any Pokemon today. After catching my fish, I picked a few berries from a nearby bush and munched on those as well. I sat under a large, shady tree where a family of Chatot were living on the branch above me. They greeted me before I got started on ripping at the fish's body. The fish also tasted better than it usually does whenever I've caught it in the past.

Not too far from me, I saw Hikaru and Abby chatting underneath a tree that was as large as mine. I decided to go ahead and join them. I grabbed my breakfast and walked on over. It seemed like these two were in a good mood and weren't arguing at all. If they're not arguing, then they must be talking about something very interesting that they've never heard of or just discovered.

"Morning, guys." I greeted them as I sat under the shade with them. "Fish?"

"Sorry, I'm vegetarian." Abby replied.

"What kind is it?" Hikaru asked.

"Trout."

"No thanks. Trying to keep my girlish figure." He also refused.

"So, what're you guys talking about?" I asked as I ripped a piece of flesh from the fish.

"Well, Hikaru was walking by Taka's temple early this morning and saw him talking with Nurse Joy. We think there's a myth that Taka and Joy might be in love with each other." Abby answered.

"Them? Well, they do share a temple."

"At first I thought it was because there was only one temple in the forest, but I think it might be a different reason, now." Hikaru pointed out. "Besides, he didn't seem as serious when talking with Joy. He seemed in a better mood."

"Speaking of which, why are you in such a good mood, Lune?" Abby asked.

"I don't know. I just feel good today."

"Well, it's obvious that everyone feels good today." She pointed out. "Why do you feel good today?" I just shrugged.

"His date went well, obviously. Because he gave her a goodnight kiss and she didn't mind it at all." Hikaru answered for me.

"You were spying on me again!"

"No I wasn't! This Bidoof was watching you guys and I asked him what was going on and he said that 'this Umbreon just made a move on that Espeon' and I took a look and there you go!"

"I've gotta start having these meetings in more private areas."

The date did go well, but I haven't seen other Pokemon act this good when they've had a fun date. They usually just act normal like they usually do. Although, it did feel good to think about the fact that Solana didn't mind me giving her a kiss last night. I thought I might've been moving too quick, but I guess not. Still, I can't get used to this. I have to slow things down in order for our friendship to work out. I just shook off those thoughts and continued on munching on my breakfast.

"Wait Lune, I thought you didn't want to kiss her? I though you wanted things to move slowly." Abby pointed out.

"I did, but after spending the evening with her, I felt…better than I ever have in my life."

"Clarify, please." Hikaru asked obviously not catching my drift.

"Well…" I stood up and lay down on a rock as I began. "As the night went on, I'd feel better and better each moment. Eventually, I started to feel like I _wanted _to. I still didn't want to rush things, but at the same time, I wanted to kiss her, so I did. But, I think I might've regretted doing so. She might think that I'm just some dumb creep who's just trying to make moves on her."

"Oh! She doesn't think that!" Abby laughed.

"How do you know?"

"Because if I remember correctly, _she _was the one who asked _you_ out."

"So?"

"So, what Abby is trying to say is that it's obvious that the girl doesn't think you're a creep if she asked you out." Hikaru clarified for me even thought I knew what she meant.

"I know that!" I spat at Hikaru. "It's just that…"

"It's just what?"

While talking with Abby and Hikaru, I started to get frustrated. All of this shit about asking her out and wanting to kiss her was giving me a headache and stomachache, which I knew wasn't from the fish. The fact that my friends were asking me all of these questions and trying to explain stuff that I already knew wasn't exactly helping either. Eventually, my head started to throb. It almost seemed like I was having a stressful breakdown. When I couldn't take it anymore, I yelled at the top of my lungs and collapsed onto the ground.

"I can't take this anymore! It's so infuriating!" I yelled.

"What is?" Abby asked sitting next to me.

"Everything! I shouldn't have even bothered trying to ask out Solana! Now I'm feeling like I've never felt before! It's frustrating and I don't know what to do about it!" After thinking for a moment, I came up with a plan. "I take that back! I know what to do! I'm gonna tell Solana that we shouldn't see each other anymore."

"Hold it right there!" Abby wrapped her vines around me and kept me on the ground. "You can't do that to her!"

"Yeah! As an expert with the ladies, I can tell that it's obvious that she likes you and if you tell her that you guys shouldn't see each other anymore, that'd break her tender heart!" Hikaru agreed. "Besides, what's so frustrating?"

"Well, everything! I want to spend as much time as I can with her, but I can't because she'll think I'm a stalker! I don't want to leave her alone because she can get hurt really bad if she's not careful and she is a tender creature! I want to tell her how beautiful she looks every hour in the day! I want to show that I care about her by giving her a goodnight kiss and saying 'sweet dreams' every night before she goes to bed! And the worst part is that when I'm with her, I have those feelings within me, but can't seem to figure out why I have them!" I explained everything. They both froze and looked at each other. Abby and Hikaru then grinned and looked at me. "What?"

"Lune, I know what's going on." Hikaru sighed and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Then what? What's going on?"

"You're in love." Abby answered.

"Me? In…love?" I asked in surprise. "But how? I haven't known Solana that well."

"You have so much in common with her and you enjoy spending time with her."

"And you're physically attracted to her." Hikaru added to what Abby said.

"Now, answer this. If you could pick one Pokemon to be with right now, who would it be?" Abby asked.

"Solana."

"There you go!"

"Wow." I muttered to myself. "It's like my uncle when he was in love with my mother. He wanted to spend all of his time with her just like I want with Solana. Is this really love?" They both nodded.

"There's only one question now." Abby said. "Do you love her?"

"…Yes." I answered. "Yes, I do, but she probably doesn't love me back."

"Well, how will you know what unless you tell her how you feel?" Hikaru asked. "Tonight, confess your love for her and she'll tell you how she feels!"

"Yes, tonight. I'll tell her…wait, no! I can't."

"You care for her, don't you?"

"More than anything."

"Then, you must tell her!" Hikaru and Abby both said. For once Abby agreed on this.

"Lune, if she doesn't love you back, then it's just obvious that you guys weren't meant for each other, but you won't know unless you try."

I thought about it. Abby did have a point, but I was hoping that she was wrong on this. For once though, Hikaru was right. I do have to tell her. How am I going to know how Solana feels unless I tell her first. I started to get serious. I got up off the ground and stood up with feet planted firmly on the ground. After turning the direction that Solana's cave was located, I started to move in that direction.

"Tonight." I confirmed to myself.

* * *

**Solana's POV**

The date certainly kept me up almost the whole night. In fact, I ended up sleeping in a lot later than I had hoped. Thankfully, no one has tried to wake me up during my peaceful sleep. Anyway, I didn't wake up the next morning until almost noon. Once I did, I realized that the flower Lune gave me the night before was leaning against me. I felt it and it seemed a little dry. I did what my instincts told me and I dug a hole in front of my cave and put the flower's stem into it.

After covering up the hole, I went down to the river and stuffed my mouth with water. I hurried back and squirted the water out of my mouth and down into the hole. Hopefully the flower will still live because it was, indeed, a beautiful flower and I would hate to see that plant die anytime soon. I wasn't exactly fully awake at this point, so I lay there in front of the flower and took in its still sweet scent. I couldn't help but get butterflies in my stomach every time I smelled the flower. It's almost like I couldn't stop thinking about the night before.

During one of the times I took in the scent, I fell onto the ground on my side and rolled over till I was on my back. I watched the clouds stroll past me in the bright blue sky as I still felt the butterflies flutter in my stomach. In fact, I thought I was going crazy because I could hear fluttering from above me. I jumped when I suddenly saw Lucy flying right above me fluttering her crystal-colored wings. Once I saw sitting up, I straightened myself up wondering what was up with my friend.

"What were you doing?" Lucy asked out of curiosity.

"Just…watching the clouds."

"You never do that. What's going on?"

"Nothing." I quickly said.

"Good!" She perked up. "So, let's go."

"Where?"

"You said you'd help look for a home so I can start a family."

"Right, sorry." I got up and brushed myself off. "Okay, I'm ready." I started to walk off when I was stopped by Lucy.

"Wait!" Lucy stopped me. I turned around and saw what Lucy was looking at. "That's the prettiest flower I've ever seen! Where'd you get it?"

"Uh…" I had no idea how to explain this to Lucy. I couldn't tell her that Lune gave it to me. She hates his guts! "Around."

"Where? I don't see any."

"In…the lost woods."

"I've been through the lost woods millions of times and I've never seen those flowers before." Lucy eyed my suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"Okay…" I took a deep breath. "It was a present."

"Aw, that's nice. Who gave it to you?" She asked. Then she interrupted me before I could say anything. "Wait! Don't tell me! Was it a guy?" I wanted to say no, but the blush on my face revealed my answer. "It was a guy! Tell me ALL about him!" She sat right in front of me.

"Did I just hear something about a guy?"

I looked forward into the distance and saw Sakura and Flora coming mine and Lucy's way. Don't get me wrong, I love them both, but do they really have to get in the middle of this as well? It's already hard enough having to tell Lucy, especially since she hates Lune's guts. Sakura and Flora came running and sat with Lucy right in front of me waiting to spill the beans. The fact that I was going to tell them that it was a guy that gave me the flower wasn't what scared me, it was the fact that they were going to ask so many questions about him.

"Oh yes you did!" Lucy answered. She pointed to the pink flower. "He gave Solana one of the most beautiful pink flowers I've ever seen and she was about to tell me all about him!"

"Oh my gosh! Tell me too!" Sakura jumped up and down.

"Yeah, girl! Spill it!" Flora agreed.

"Well…he's nice." I answered trying to keep my cool. "…and funny. He's about my age. I will say that he does make me laugh a lot and he's very understanding about my previous experiences with dating."

"Aww, he sounds so nice!" Sakura cooed. "What kind of Pokemon is he? Is he an Eeveelution?"

"Y-yeah." I blushed.

"Which one?" Flora asked.

"What's his name?" Lucy asked. Damn, I thought to myself. Here goes nothing.

"He's…" I took a deep breath. "…an Umbreon. And his name is…Lune."

"Lune? You mean as in Lune the Umbreon that snuck into my wedding reception?" Lucy asked in shock.

"Yeah. But please don't be mad, he's really not a bad guy like you think he is. He's someone…different."

"Solana," My best friend flew next to me. "You're my best friend. So what if I don't like Lune? You should go out with whichever Pokemon you want. Besides, I may grow to like Lune later on. Uta and Kane didn't like my mate when we first started going out."

"True." Flora and Sakura agreed.

"Thanks, guys." I thanked them and we all joined in a group hug. "So, now you guys know where I got that flower."

"It's so pretty. He must really like you." Flora sniffed it.

"I guess. I mean, he did kiss me." At that point, all three of my friends gasped and got wide-eyed. "It was only on the cheek."

"Still, that means he likes you!" Sakura cooed. "And judging by how you're keeping the flower he gave you, you like him too."

Me? Like him too? I had never really given much thought about my feelings towards Lune. Sure, he was a nice guy, but did I really like him in that way? No, I didn't. Instead, I felt an even stronger feeling toward him. Something that I never felt towards my previous boyfriends in the past. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was this warm feeling that makes you want to stand by their side every moment in the day. I didn't feel that when I was in my other relationships, especially Koki. When he asked me to marry him, I didn't feel like I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. It just ended up being an innocent crush that ended very quickly. As for Lune, I'm not sure.

"She might even _love _him." Lucy elbowed Sakura in a teasing manner.

"Love?" I asked.

"Yeah, haven't you ever been in love with any of your previous boyfriends?" Flora asked.

"I don't know, what does it mean when you're in love?"

"Oh, Solana, it's when you feel this strong passion for them. You feel like you never want to leave their side. You're always thinking about them. You get those butterflies in your stomach when you're around them. It's a great feeling, Solana." Lucy explained. "Do you ever feel that way when you're around Lune?"

"Well, I did last night. He's a sweetheart. Who wouldn't want to leave him?" I answered. "And I will admit, I can't stop thinking about last night. We had so much fun. I'd like to do that again one of these days. And I'll also admit that I do keep thinking about him." I picked up the flower and decided to put it on my ear instead.

"Well, do you love him?" All three asked. I blushed and nodded. Then, they all let out a fan girl scream as if some hot celebrity was walking past them.

"Maybe I should've lied and said no." I laughed.

"This is great! You've finally got your trust in men back! Now, all you have to do is tell him how you feel!" Lucy hugged me. I froze at her idea.

"I can't. What if he doesn't feel the same?"

"Solana, he kissed you last night. It's obvious that he likes you." Flora sighed.

"Like and love are two totally different things."

"The way I see it, is if you tell him and he doesn't love you back, then you guys just probably weren't meant for each other." Lucy pointed out. "Still, it's worth a shot."

Lucy did have a point. Although traditionally, guys are the ones who are supposed to make the first move, sometimes the girls have to make the move before them because of how scared some guys are. I thought about it for a moment. Then, I remembered the looks on his face that he gave me last night reminding me of how much of a good time that he had with me. I stood up off the ground making my decision.

"I'll give it a few nights. Then, I'll tell him." My decision was final.

**Author's Note: Aww, looks like we have something going on here! By the way, I did a fanart of Lune and Solana that's my profile avatar and is going on deviantart, so you should check it out! Thanks for reading and be sure to leave a review please!**


	13. Confessions

**Author's Note: Hey! What's up, guys! I've had a great summer and I hope the rest of you guys had a great one too! Anyway, here's number 13 out of…I dunno, however many chapters I decide to put up! So, here we go! Also, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to friend of mine. **

Chapter 13: Confessions

**Lune's POV**

Just tell her how you feel. Just tell her how you feel. That's all I've been saying in my head for the past 10 hours. It shouldn't be that hard, right? All I have to do is go up to Solana and tell her I love her, right? Wrong! It's just like what happened when I kept on getting nervous about visiting Solana for the first time. I kept thinking of these bad thoughts making my life more complicated than it needs to be. For an hour, I stood in front of my cave pacing back and forth wondering how this was going to go. Why did I have to be such a coward? Now I know why I've never had a girlfriend before. Because I'm a coward with girls.

I remember back when I was a teenager and all of my friends started going out with girls, I was the only one who had never been out before. My friends wouldn't let it go for the longest time. The only time they started letting it go was when my best friend broke up with his first girl and simply said that women are waste of time. My opinion? I thought it was harsh for him to say that, but I had no say in it because again, I was the only one who didn't have his first girlfriend by age 13.

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Hey, Lune!" I heard my name being called. "Look at you!" It was my best friend, Axel, who had just evolved into a Flareon. He was referring to the fact that I had just evolved into an Umbreon just a few days ago._

"_I can see you're in pretty good shape yourself." I agreed. _

"_Yeah, man! And it's going to work super well when it comes to you attracting the ladies." _

"_Wait, you have your first girlfriend already?"_

"_That's right. SHE is my babe." Axel tilted his head behind him showing me a very feminine looking Jolteon. "Her name's Larxene. All it took was to show her burning blood that boils in my veins. And now, she's mine and we're gonna make little Axels."_

"_Okay, we're only 13. You're not seriously telling me that you're going to raise kids at this age, are you?"_

"_No! Of course not!" My friend scoffed. "My job is to give her the babies that she wants. Her job is to take care of the little brats while I do all of the protecting and hunting." I then looked ahead and saw a couple more of my friends heading on over towards our direction. "Hey! Vexen! Demyx!" _

"_Yo, what's shaking?" Demyx came and did a secret handshake thing with Axel. "The babes are hot, but they're scaring me, man."_

"_Women are not supposed to be trouble. They're supposed to be cooperative." Vexen said as placed the dark blue paw of a Glaceon on his forehead. _

"_No! I mean, they expect so much from you and sometimes you just can't handle it! I was trying to protect my girl from this vicious Glameow and look what she did to my merman tail!" My Vaporeon friend show off his scratched up tail. "What about you, Lune, how are the ladies treating you?"_

"_I don't know. I don't have a girl." I answered shrugging._

"_Well, you better get one quick before they're all taken." Axel sprawled out on the grass. "And trust me, they're HOT this year!" He finished off by blowing a small ember._

"_I know. I'm just…" _

"_Too chicken?" Vexen asked me in a teasing manner._

"_No! I'm just…"_

"_Come on, Lune. So what if you're too chicken to ask a girl out! You'll grow out of it!"_

"_I'm not a chicken!" I yelled. "Sorry, it's just that I'm not chicken at all. I just…get…nervous around girls, that's all."_

"_Well, stop being nervous quick or else soon before you know it, they'll be ALL gone." Demyx pointed out._

_

* * *

_

Now that I think about it, having a girl at that time wasn't that important. Who cares if all of my other friends were going out with girls at that age. No offense, but those who date a bunch in their younger years will probably either end up not married or just dating a bunch of other Pokemon. Me? I'd much rather find that one special girl to spend the rest of my life with. I think I might have found that in Solana. She understands me, she makes me feel special, I don't feel like I have to hide anything from her, she's just…different and I like that in a girl. I like it when she's unique and different from all of the rest. Instead of being a red rose on a red rose bush, she's a white rose on that same bush and stands out from all of the rest.

I think I just figured out how to tell her how I feel. Now, I was starting to think about how some guys wooed girls by reciting poetry for them. I'm not a poet, but comparing her to beautiful roses just might do it for me. I stood confidently in front of my cave and started heading on over to Solana's cave. The evening really looked pretty tonight and it helped that my rings were glowing as well. The full moon's light also reflected upon the waterfalls creating a really sparkling sight.

"Hey, Lune!" I looked up and saw Avis flying down to my level. "Heading off somewhere?"

"Just to Solana's cave."

"Ah, just going to hang out with her?"

"Yeah, nothing special. Just a friendly evening out, you know?" I knew that Avis didn't want me falling in love with her, so I couldn't let this slip.

"Oh yeah, I know." He nodded slowly.

"Avis, you're scaring me. You okay?"

"Yep. I'm just wondering whether you're going to tell Solana how you feel or not."

"How'd you know???" I asked in embarrassment while blushing.

"Everything gets around here in Orre Forest."

"Oh." I then realized that something could go terribly wrong with that. "Wait! Does that mean Solana might know how I feel about her?"

"Maybe." Avis simply answered.

"Crap! I have to tell her first before she finds out!"

I started running towards her cave at the speed of light. If she finds out about my feelings for her before I have the chance to tell her, I don't know what could happen. She might not even be ready to know of my love, so I might not even be able to tell her how I feel tonight. Still, I need to at least show a little hint so that she doesn't suddenly freak out when I tell her. So, I just did what my instincts told me to, which was to take her someplace romantic hinting how I feel about her.

My original plan was to wait outside of her cave and to call her out, but that plan went way down when I suddenly collided with something. I fell to the ground shaking my head back and forth. Now, my head was officially throbbing and I think I was getting a headache as well. While rubbing my head I realized that I had collided with someone else who was also rubbing their head. It was Solana! Damn, of all the Pokemon I didn't want to collide with, it ended up being her! Either I was feeling nervous around her, or I was also getting a stomachache from some bad meat.

"Solana! I'm so sorry!" I walked over and helped her up. "I wasn't watching where I was going!"

"Oh, it's okay." She laughed a little and dusted herself off. "I was actually looking for you."

"For me?"

"Yes." Solana nodded.

"What for?"

"Well…" She paused for a minute. "I had such a great time the other night that I thought maybe we could hang out again tonight."

"Umm…" I wasn't exactly sure what to say at the moment considering that's exactly what I was planning to ask her. "Sure, I don't have anything to do tonight."

"What works for you?"

"How about Milotic Falls again?"

"Actually, I've got a great view on top of this one cliff!" Solana said suddenly getting excited. "Come on, I'll show you!"

Suddenly, she started running a good amount of speed in front of me. Interested in what she had to show me, I followed her. Solana was fast. She was a lot faster than she usually was, so I was actually starting to pant as I followed her up the small mountain of tall and large rocks. What was she so excited about? I didn't bother to argue. After a few minutes of sprinting up the rocks, I stopped to take a breather, but Solana would come to me and start trying to drag me. I would give in and continue to make my way up and around.

Eventually, she had me stop right in my tracks. I kept wanting to think that this was going to be a trap. Why? Well, for starters, she had me stand very still. Then, she had me shut my eyes. Either this was a trap or a surprise. Since this was Solana we were talking about, I decided to go with the surprise option. Solana then had me hold onto her tail as she guided me with my eyes still shut. This freaked me out a little because I didn't want to end up walking into open air and falling to my death. Imagine how ugly that would be.

"Can I open up now?" I asked after taking a deep breath.

"Almost." She stopped after a moment. "Alright…now!"

I opened my eyes to look at what was probably the best view of Orre Forest that I had ever seen in my entire life. It would've helped make it even more beautiful if the sun was setting and it wasn't already evening. Oh well. The moon shooting beams of silver and the stars twinkling in the sky was good enough for me. I was able to see my cave from this view. I could also locate Milotic Falls, Abby and Hikaru's home, even Orre Meadow. Wow, I thought to myself. Now I know where to come if ever need some time be alone or if I just want to find a great view to look at.

"It's such a beautiful view of the forest." Solana said as she sat near the end of the cliff. "I love to come up here whenever there are other Pokemon hanging out at Milotic Falls. I just wish…there was something else down there in the forest that is just as beautiful."

"There is." I answered accidentally. She looked at me. Crap, I thought to myself. Now what? "It's not necessarily some_thing_, but there's definitely some_one_." At least I was able to get that out of my mouth.

"Really?" She asked. I prayed in my mind that she wouldn't ask who it was. "Well, whoever she is. She's very lucky. She must have a wonderful family, great friends, and an amazing mate too." Solana then just looked ahead out to the horizon. "She must have things that I could never have."

"What?" That hit me right there. "Solana, are you saying that you can't ever have any of that?"

"Exactly. I mean, think about it, Lune. My father has disowned me because I didn't marry a bastard. I'm friends with Lucy now, but she's got a mate and is going to start a family really soon, so she'll probably forget about me anyway. As for a mate…there's just no hope. I'm going to end up like one of those girls who continues to date her entire life without any mate or children."

"Why would you think that?" I moved closer to her and tilter her face with my paw so I was looking into her eyes. "You're better than that."

"How would you know?"

"Because, you're the most amazing girl I've ever met." I watched her blush at that. Damn, either I'm good at this or I need to stop because she's getting embarrassed.

"No one's ever said that to me." She turned and walked away a bit. "Not even Koki. He expected me to marry him, yet he had never told me that the he loved me once."

"Are you serious?" It hurt me to think of the way that jerk treated her.

"That's why I prefer to be alone most of the time." Solana held her head low. "Because when you're alone, nobody can hurt you."

"Solana…" I got her attention again. "I could never, ever, hurt you. I couldn't. Because I…" Oh boy, I thought to myself. This was it. I placed my paw on top of hers. "Solana, I…I…"

"Lune!!!!"

Dammit! What's wrong this time? First, I try to kiss Solana and I get interrupted. This time, I try to tell Solana that I love her and I get interrupted! Does anybody but me see a pattern here? I've got to start going to more private places when it comes to romance. The only time I didn't get interrupted was when Mota, the insane Flareon that I was "betrothed" to, tried to make a move on me! Abby and Hikaru were the ones that convinced me to tell Solana how I felt in the first place, so what's wrong with them this time? I groaned and turned around.

Wrong Pokemon.

Instead of Abby and Hikaru, it was the two Pokemon that I met when I first came to Orre Meadow. Yami, the Mightyena, and Takeshi, the Fearow that wouldn't stop tormenting me. I wondered what was up with them? They looked really concerned, so that got me a little concerned as well. I mean concerned as in, "how is my uncle" concerned. I knew that Yami and Takeshi were like sons to my uncle, so I was starting to assume that there might've been something wrong with him. I got up from where I was sitting and faced the pacing Pokemon.

"Yami? Takeshi?" I asked when they reached me.

"Lune! Thank Celebi we found you!" Takeshi panted and passed out briefly.

"We've got a problem." Yami added in.

"How bad is it?" I asked him.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, 20."

"What's going on?"

"It's Yaku! He's in danger as well as the rest of Orre Forest!"

"How?" I asked Yami wanting to get as much information as possible.

"Well, it's hunting season for the forest…" Yami started.

"And we're talking REAL hunting." Takeshi interrupted. "As in, shooting and killing other Pokemon with weapons, hunting."

"Exactly as Takeshi said, it's hunting season for the forest and the hunters were setting up their camp in Orre Meadow. Takeshi and I went and got your uncle so we could head to Orre Meadow and try to prevent any major damage that could've been dealt. In the process, we got caught by the hunters and had rush to get back to Orre Forest, but while doing that, Yaku got caught in one of the hunters' traps. We tried to get him out, but the hunters were smart and used metal traps and electrocuted ropes. So, Yaku sent us to get you, because he knows that if you're anything like your father, you'll fight until you can save him." Yami explained the whole thing.

"Well, first of all, if it was my old man that Yaku would've sent for, my father would've just left him there to die." I scoffed. "Second of all, what makes him think that now he can send his own children so that I can bail him out?"

"Because Lune, you're his only hope!" Takeshi answered angrily.

"You're right. That's why I'm not going to be anything like my old man, and go and help out my only family." I turned over to Solana, who was listening to the whole thing. "Solana, I have to go and help my uncle stop this. You need to keep yourself safe. Stay hidden in your cave. I'll find Avis and have him alert the forest, so don't worry about alerting others."

"Well, if you're going to help your uncle, you'd better do it quick." Solana pointed behind me. I turned around to find a large orange glow and whole lot of smoke coming from Orre Meadow.

"Oh shit! They've lit the meadow on fire! If it's not put out any minute, Orre Forest will become a burning wasteland!" I turned to Yami and Takeshi. "Guys, let's go! Solana, stay here and keep yourself safe." After saying good-bye to Solana, I began to dash off only to be blocked off by her.

"I'm coming with you."

"No, that's insane, you'll get killed." I argued.

"Lune, you've helped me so much already." Solana said as she looked deep into my eyes. "Now, I want to help you."

"You can. By keeping yourself safe."

"Lune, there's no way I'm letting you go alone! If anything ever happens to you, I'll never forgive myself!" Solana yelled with tears forming in her eyes. I hate seeing a girl tear up. It makes me think like I've hurt her. I heaved a deep sigh.

"Stay close and you've got to take orders." I gave in.

"Yes sir!" She answered as she nodded her head.

Yami and Takeshi had flown ahead while Solana and I had our little argument. At this point, I dashed off with Solana trailing behind me as we started our battle to save my uncle, and our home.

**Author's Note: Dun dun dun! It's battle time next chapter! Okay, so I named a few Eeveelutions after some KH2 characters, don't sue me!!! Sorry I took forever! I just got back from my week-long vacation at the happiest place on Earth! Anyway, be sure to leave a review, please!!!!!**


	14. We Didn't Start The Fire

**Author's Note: Chapter 14 is here! I'm still trying to update as much as possible. Thanks for sticking with me readers!**

Chapter 14: We Didn't Start The Fire

**Lune's POV**

I hurried on over to Orre Meadow to see how bad that fire was. It probably got worse than it was as I was hurrying over here. Takeshi and Yami decided to head into the meadow to check the status on everything and try to prevent anything from getting worse. When I made it to Orre Meadow, I poked my head out (not literally) to check it out. It wasn't at the forest yet, but it was starting to get close. We had to put it out if the forest was going to be safe. Hikaru and Abby hurried over to where I was to see what the buzz was. My two friends decided to take a look at the fire too. Abby said it was extremely bad if the fire got too close because a lot of grass-type Pokemon lived over near the meadow.

"What kind of evil-minded human would do this?" Abby asked angrily.

"An evil-minded human called a hunter." I answered.

"So, now what?" Hikaru asked.

"We have to put it out."

"How, Lune? We don't have any water-type moves." Hikaru argued.

"_We _don't." Solana started to say. "But, _they _do." She pointed towards Whiscash Pond where loads of water Pokemon lived. "That's also where the Squirtle Squad lives."

"The what?"

"The Squirtle Squad is also known as our firefighter team." Abby explained. "Whenever there's a fire, we call on them and they put it out."

"Then, let's go get them." I said.

Whiscash Pond was a good distance away from Orre Meadow and it didn't help that the fire was spreading quickly in the meadow. I would've just sent my friends to get the Squirtle Squad, but what good would've that done. I can't do anything about the fire except get someone who knows a water move to put it out. The only thing I can do is save my uncle, but the fire looks harsh and I'd better put it out before it gets to the rest of Orre Forest and sets it all up in flames. Yami told me that when hunters catch Pokemon, they usually put them in cages for a while, so my uncle is probably safer than the forest is right now, but I still have to hurry.

We finally reached the pond. There were a lot of water Pokemon either lying on rocks in the pond or floating on their backs in the water or swimming. Were they even aware that soon the water's going to dry up if this fire gets any worse. I guess word doesn't get around as well as Avis said it did. A Quagsire was giving himself a shower with Water Gun really close to us. He looked really friendly and I've learned that when asking for a favor from a group, you go up to the friendliest looking person first. I walked over to him and tapped on his back to get his attention.

"Excuse me, sir." I said.

"Hey man, what's shaking?" The Quagsire faced me and held out his hand so I could shake it.

"Uh…nothing." I shaked it. "But listen, we…kind of…needed a favor."

"Yeah? What's the 411?"

"Orre Meadow's on fire and we need you guys to put it out with your water gun attacks." Solana answered.

"You want _us_?" He asked in shock. "What're you asking us for? It's the Squirtle Squad's job to put out fires. Not ours."

"Then, where is the Squirtle Squad?" Abby asked.

"They're out at the Lost Woods. Apparently, there was a small fire there that needed to be put out."

"Do you know when they're due back?" I asked.

"Not sure. The Squirtle Squad is very unpredictable when it comes to putting out fires. Some could take only a few minutes. Some take hours. If it's a really bad fire, it could take days to put it out!" The Quagsire explained. I shuddered when he said 'days'. "But they could be back any time now, so go ahead and just wait here and when they get here, they'll put out your fire."

"But listen, you don't understand!" Hikaru argued.

"Hikaru's right." I agreed. Wow, Hikaru was right again. "Orre Meadow is on fire and if we don't put it out, then it's going to set this whole forest on fire!"

"Well, what do you want us to do?" An Azumarill asked.

"We just need you to use Water Gun or even Hydro Pump, if you know it, on the flames to put them out." Solana explained.

"But we can't do it." A Floatzel argued.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because…we just can't."

"We're not heroes." A Croconaw said.

"So what?" I argued. "Is that why you won't help us? Because other Pokemon don't look up to you? Whether others look up to you or not doesn't matter. A Pokemon calling you weak just because you aren't firefighters doesn't make them any stronger. Calling someone stupid doesn't make you any smarter. If don't like being called weak, then you're the only ones who can do something about it. You have to show them that you're stronger and braver than you think. Hiding yourselves is what's going to make you weak. So, show them that you're better than that." I preached out to the water Pokemon.

The water Pokemon were in shock. They didn't say anything. After my little speech, each of them looked at one another whispering amongst each other. I turned around figuring that maybe my speech didn't do any good. It was until I heard a water Pokemon climb out of the water and onto a tall rock next to the pond that I started away. Wondering what was going on, I turned around and saw the same Quagsire that I spoke to earlier. He was facing the rest of his clan and looked much tougher than he normally would look.

"Guys, it's obvious that just because the Squirtle Squad is properly trained doesn't mean that we can rely on them 24/7. We're all water Pokemon and we need to show the forest that we are water Pokemon by shooting as much water as we can and putting out those deadly flames!" Quagsire announced. "Who's with me?"

"We are!" All water Pokemon answered.

"So, let's go fight some fires!"

Within a moment, Quagsire started leading the water Pokemon out of the pond and over towards the meadow. I can't believe it actually worked! I felt so happy right now that I wanted to allow tears to escape my eyes. Quagsire gave me a thumbs up and winked at me before leading the rest of his crew over towards the meadow. Solana smiled at my success and I returned it with a nod. That was our cue to start on over towards the meadow so we could do our part.

The water Pokemon were running as fast as they could and I ran ahead carrying some smaller water Pokemon such as Wooper and Piplup. Solana did the same since we were both faster than anyone else. Thankfully, Solana and I were fast enough that we were able to drop off some smaller Pokemon at the meadow and they started spraying their water gun attacks at the fire. It didn't seem to do much good in putting it out, but it definitely prevented the fire from spreading any more than it already was. Soon after, the other Pokemon joined up and started looking around the fire so they could try to split up.

"We're gonna have to split up evenly." Quagsire said looking at all of the Pokemon.

"The children should stay here and prevent the fires from spreading." A Blastoise suggested. "The rest of us should go deeper into the meadow where it's too dangerous for the kids."

"Good idea." A mother Swampert agreed. "One of us should stay here and help the children in case the fire gets too out of control."

"I'll stay." A Poliwhirl stepped up.

"Okay, then the rest of us will split up evenly in the deeper part of the meadow." The same Swampert said.

"But Mother, you'll get hurt." A little Mudkip walked up to his tall mother.

"It's okay, sweetie. I'll be back. I'm only going to protect you."

"But what if you can't protect yourself and you don't come back?" The Mudkip started to sob a bit. It broke my heart to see all of these young water Pokemon looking up at their parents who can't protect them. Those humans who did this to us Pokemon will pay for it!

"Don't worry, little guy." I said to the young Mudkip. "Your mother is going to put out these fires, I'm going to save our king, and we're going to save this forest!" With that, everyone cheered. "Now, let's fight!"

"Let's go!" Quagsire led the adult Pokemon into the deeper part of the meadow while the little kids and Poliwhirl started spraying the fires.

"Okay, now we need to split up as well." I said to my friends. "There's too much going on for all four of us to go into the same place at once.

"What about Takeshi and Yami?" Abby asked.

"They're getting rid of what's left of the fire hazards. The last thing we need is for this huge fire to get any worse." I answered. "Abby, your Vine Whip should be able to rip off any locks on the cages. Try and free as many Pokemon as possible. Be careful not to get burned. If you start burning, tell a water Pokemon to put it out and if they refuse, say that it's an order from me. Now head on out. The cages should be at their campsite." Abby nodded and headed into the burning meadow. "Hikaru, you stay here with Poliwhirl. If she or any of the children start getting tired or if the fire starts to get worse, go get some more help and possibly find the Squirtle Squad." Hikaru nodded. I looked over at Solana who looked clueless as to what she was going to have to do. "Solana, you have to stay close."

"Right. Now, let's go save your uncle." Before I dashed off, I looked behind me to see if Hikaru was ready for action only to find him already hitting on Poliwhirl.

"Say, if we…save the forest, you wanna go out sometime?" He asked her smoothly.

"Back off, pervert! I'm married!" She the used Doubleslap on Hikaru causing him to faint a little. I shook my head in disbelief.

With that, the two of us dashed off. The place was loaded with traps and it was getting very hard to breathe with all of the smoke coming from the fire. We kept coughing and choking and it was also very hard to see. Solana held onto my tail so that we could stick together and not lose track of each other because at this point, I couldn't see anything except for maybe a few very blurry trees and bright orange flames. I could also hear the water Pokemon putting out the fires. It sounded like they were working their butts off.

In the blink of an eye, I saw something shiny from a distance, if there's one thing I can still see is if something is shiny. What I saw wasn't something that you'd want to get curious about. I knew exactly what it was! With that, I made Solana duck and that's when I heard the shot come from the shiny object. It was, without a doubt, a rifle. The bullet didn't some anywhere near us, but you've still gotta be safe about it. Solana and I then started dashing not even caring about what traps were on the ground. Within seconds, I found myself in a running river struggling to keep myself above the surface.

"Solana!" I called for her since I couldn't see her.

"Lune!" She answered. I saw her holding onto a large boulder and I swam over and joined her. "I think we'd better be more careful and watch our step." I nodded in agreement. Then I looked over to side and saw another shiny rifle aimed at us.

"Get down!" I shoved her underneath the water. We started drifting away with the river and struggled to keep our heads above. "At this rate, we'll be lucky if we even find my uncle."

"We need more help! It's too dangerous!" Solana said as she grabbed the edge of some land. I grabbed some as well. "We'll be lucky enough if we get out of this river alive."

"If we get some more help, then we'll just be putting more lives in danger. We're already pushing it with the water Pokemon. We just have to be very aware of our surroundings, that's all." I climbed out of the river and helped Solana out as well.

"I wonder how Abby and Hikaru are doing."

"I'm sure Abby is fine. Hikaru's the one I'm worried about.

Afterwards, I heard a another gunshot. This time, I heard a cry. It wasn't my uncle's cry, it wasn't the cry of Takeshi or Yami, it wasn't the cry of Abby or Hikaru, but it sounded like one of the water Pokemon's cries! There were a bunch of Pidgey flying out from where the gunshot was fired, so I dashed on over to where it happened. The fire was really starting to get to us. I was sweating more than I've ever sweat in my entire life and I was also getting very dehydrated and needed something to drink. I should've gotten one from the river before we took off.

We made it to where the gunshot was heard. There was when I saw the most horrid sight that I've ever seen in my entire life. The water Pokemon weren't putting out the fires at all, but they were all passed out! I thought they were dead at first when I saw them, but I was able to get their attention, they were just too weak to move. The fires were so hot that they ran out of water. Boy, this was really bad now. However, this didn't help me find out who got shot by the gun. An Azumarill pointed over to the mother Swampert! I rushed over to find her lying on her side on the verge of death. Her son, who was supposed to be back with the other kids, was standing by her side.

"Mother, please get up!" He asked her.

"Miss! What happened?" I asked.

"It was…a man…" She choked out while struggling to breathe. "…a man…with something…shiny…in his hands."

"My sister has him tied up." An Octillery said.

"Mother, please."

"I'm…not sure I can." She said to her child.

"We'll help you!" Solana said as she started trying to help up the Swampert. I rushed over to her and started trying to help her as well.

"Come on, you have to get up!" I said.

"Yes, mother!" Mudkip started to help. She tried to get up, but gave up and collapsed on the ground again.

"No…" Solana said in disbelief.

"My darling son…" Swampert began to say. Mudkip got closer to her face and started nuzzling it. "…do you remember…everything I taught you?"

"I guess so." He began sniffling. "But why do I have to know? You're going to be with me."

"Mudkip…" I stepped next to him.

"Little one…" Swampert said. "I'll be with you…even if you can't see me."

"What do you mean we can't see? We can always see you." Why didn't I see this coming? Why didn't I prepare for the worst?

"Lune…" I nodded and stepped closer. "…you must save…Orre Forest. Please…do it for…my son. I've given my all to protect him…and now…I cannot give anymore…so please…you are our only hope." I nodded.

"Miss?" Solana asked. She didn't answer. She lay there, with her eyes shut, not breathing at all.

"Mother?" Mudkip then started tearing up when he realized that his mother was not okay. "Mother! Mother!" He kept nudging her face. "Open your eyes, Mother!" I found myself tearing up some. A few water Pokemon that were surrounding her started crying. Solana was tearing up as well. "Mother! MOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!" With that, Mudkip broke down and started crying like there was no tomorrow.

"No! I've failed!" A Feraligatr pounded his fists to the ground.

"It wasn't your fault." I said.

"You don't understand! She was my sweetheart. I helped her get through her son's father's death and then we decided to raise her son together. We were about to become mates, but now…we can't because I can't even protect her!" He started sobbing while holding Swampert's hand (paw?).

At this point, I felt more pissed off than I ever have been in my entire life. What kind of heartless person would do this to a mother and her child? I stomped past the dead Swampert and the water Pokemon and found the man responsible for her death. An Octillery was holding him captive. I told the Octillery to let him go because he had nowhere to go. I had him cornered. I started growling showing the human my anger and hatred towards him.

He looked fearful, but that was no excuse for the damage that he did. I grabbed the rifle that he shot the Swampert with and threw it away. Then, I started creeping over to him. He started trying to crawl away, but I ran up and grabbed him by the leg as if I was trying to eat him. He shouted in pain. Now he knows what it's like for Pokemon when they get shot by bastards like him! I got smacked in the head by him and he started to crawl away while I shook it off and recovered some.

I wasn't done with him yet! I leapt over and pinned him to ground. I snarled and growled wanted to rip his eyes out. However, I didn't have much luck. He was able to knock me off and started to try and crawl away again. This time, I wasn't going to let him get away! I was going straight in for the kill! I sharpened my claws and got my teeth ready to sink into his sensitive body. Then, with one large leap, I came within range of him and was ready to claim my victory. However, during my leap, something came in my way. It wasn't something, it was someone, another Pokemon. Instead slashing him, I slashed the Pokemon instead.

After landing on my feet, I realized who the Pokemon was. It was Solana! She was defending the human? What was up with that? He just killed an innocent Pokemon and she's taking his side now! I ignored her and started going after the human who had just barely made it up a small cliff that I wasn't able to climb. After failing to catch him, I sat there, at the foot of the cliff panting with a lump in my throat. I had one chance to catch him and he got away. I felt so pissed I wanted to just rip everything in half! I bit and scratched at an old log that was right next to me and took all of my anger out on it.

Then, I looked behind me and saw Solana standing there. She was looking at me the same way that she did the day we met on the cliff, when I saved her from killing herself. I had realized that Solana had just seen a side of me that I didn't want to show her. I straightened myself up and started stepping towards her. She gasped a little and started stepping away from me. I could see that she had large scratch marks on her shoulder. Those were from me? Did I seriously do that to her?

"Solana…I…" I began to say.

"Look at yourself." She said with sadness in her voice. "You're becoming what I don't want you to be."

"It's not what it looks like."

"You were about to kill that human. That's why I had to jump in."

"Solana, you saw what he did to that Swampert!" This was when I started getting mad. "He killed an innocent Pokemon! Why is it that such a cruel human should live on like that?"

"It's not the idea of him living, it's the idea of _you_ killing him in revenge." Solana said tearing up. "If you kill him, that'll make you just as much of a heartless creature as he is." It hurt to hear her say that. Me? A killer? True, I've killed Pokemon to eat, but that's necessary. But killing a human as revenge? That would make me a killer. Still, I had to stop him before he hurt any other Pokemon.

"But…Solana…if I let him go, he'll hurt other Pokemon!" I raised my voice at her. "Whose side are you on? The humans' or the Pokemon's?"

"Of course I side with the Pokemon! But I'm not going to let you become a killer!" Solana raised her voice back at me.

"Then, how am I supposed to save my uncle and the forest? Challenge them to a Pokemon battle? This is what I have to do, Solana! It's either them or the Pokemon!" This time, I was showing real anger because she didn't seem to get the point! At this point, she was starting to tear up.

"I thought you were different. I thought you were someone special! I thought you were someone that I could trust, Lune!" Solana said with tears streaming down her cheeks. "But as it seems, it looks like I was wrong!" With that, she turned around and started running into the meadow crying.

"Solana!" I called out her name!

I watched her run without responding me. The blood that was on my claws from slashing her dripped from my paws onto the ground. I just couldn't believe what I had done. I was turning into a killer. That's not what I wanted to be! That's the kind of Pokemon my old man was! I pounded my paw onto the ground and shouted into the sky just wanting to let it all out.

There wasn't that much time left. Solana was out there and she could be killed at any moment. I rushed into the meadow hoping to find Solana and to win her trust back.

_To be continued…_

**Author's Note: Wow, a lot of crap happened there, huh? Chapter 15 and the rest of the climax will be up as soon as I can!**


	15. Second Chance

**Author's Note: Here's chapter 15! Enjoy and review please!**

Chapter 15: Second Chance

_Previously from last chapter_

"_I thought you were different. I thought you were someone special! I thought you were someone that I could trust, Lune!" Solana said with tears streaming down her cheeks. "But as it seems, it looks like I was wrong!" With that, she turned around and started running into the meadow crying. _

"_Solana!" I called out her name! _

_I watched her run without responding me. The blood that was on my claws from slashing her dripped from my paws onto the ground. I just couldn't believe what I had done. I was turning into a killer. That's not what I wanted to be! That's the kind of Pokemon my old man was! I pounded my paw onto the ground and shouted into the sky just wanting to let it all out. _

_There wasn't that much time left. Solana was out there and she could be killed at any moment. I rushed into the meadow hoping to find Solana and to win her trust back._

* * *

There was so much shit going on in the meadow that I didn't even know where to begin. I had one thing that I had to get straight here though, and that was to save Solana and my uncle. First, I wanted to check up on Abby to see how she was doing. Hopefully, she was doing fine with freeing other Pokemon from their cages. She should be because I've been seeing Pokemon such as Furret, Nidorino, Noctowl and pretty much any kind of Pokemon that the humans were able to get their hands on. I saw a bunch of water Pokemon who were still trying to put out the fires.

I found Abby who was yanking off a cage that would release a family of Raticate and Rattata. After much pulling and yanking, it came off and the cage door opened allowing the mouse Pokemon to hurry back to Orre Forest. Abby started breathing heavily and then collapsed onto the ground. I rushed by her side to help her up. Now that I think about it, it was probably a really bad idea to send her out here to the burning meadow, especially since she's a grass type.

"Abby! You okay?" I asked with concern.

"I'm just…very…tired and thirsty." She answered.

"How many of the cages did you get?"

"A lot. I saw your uncle here, but the hunters took him farther away. How are things going with you?"

"Terrible! The water Pokemon are becoming too dehydrated to put out the fire and Solana has now run away!"

"Why? What happened to Solana?"

"It's a long story, but to make it shorter, let's just say I almost became a killer."

"It couldn't have been that bad, could it?"

"Well, this one human shot and killed a Swampert who was risking her life to help put out the fires and save her son, but the human was heartless enough to kill her. So, I tried to do something about it, and Solana jumped in the middle between me and the human and got hurt from me. She said that if I killed the human, then that'd make me just as heartless as he was…and she's right. Two wrongs don't make a right. So now, Solana's afraid of me and has run off into the meadow."

"Are you crazy??? How could you let her run off like that????"

"I tried to stop her, but she just ran off and wouldn't listen to me!" I argued.

"She could get killed! You have to go find her!" Abby said firmly.

"I know, but I also have to find my uncle!"

"Don't worry about him. From what I've heard, the humans are planning to sell him to a zoo in Fuschia City for a lot of money rather than kill him. So, he's safe for now."

"Good. After you set free the other Pokemon, do you think you can go and make sure they don't take my uncle out of the meadow and if they attempt to, do what you can to stop them." I asked.

"You just go find Solana! I'll take care of finding your uncle!"

"Thanks, Abby."

I thanked my friend and started dashing back on course to find Solana. So far, no luck. I kept calling her name, but I'd get no response. At that point, I'd start panicking because that could mean that she's dead! That could also mean she's safe, but just a far distance away. The fire was still burning a lot, so I was really starting to get overheated a bit. I decided to stop off at the river to splash my face with some icy cold water to cool myself off. After cooling off a bit, I went back to my search, which wasn't that difficult.

Across the river, I could see a few humans struggling to grab a cage from a pickup truck. In front of them, on a stump, was a figure that looked to be sleeping on the stump of a tree. My heart beat suddenly started beating at a thousand beats per second when I realized who it was. It was Solana! I jumped into the river and started swimming across. I got out on the other side and got a little closer. I suddenly got a lump in my throat when I saw her condition. She looked…dead.

I thought she was dead. My eyes started getting watery and I kept shaking my head in disbelief. Is this the punishment we get just for existence? We lose our loved ones just for being Pokemon? That wasn't right! I rushed over to her side and nuzzled her face a little. At that moment, she budged a little and started moving her stiff body a bit. I guess the humans used a dart to put her to sleep. Thank Celebi, I thought to myself. She slowly opened her eyes to make eye contact with my glowing red eyes.

"Lune?"

"Come on, we have to go." I said trying to help her up.

"I feel…very…numb."

"I know, it's the medication they put in the darts. But you'll be okay."

"Lune?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you come back to help me?"

"Because…Solana…" I got closer to her. "I…"

"They're getting away!" I turned my head to see a couple of humans chasing after us.

"Hurry, Solana!"

With that, we dashed off, regardless of how stiff Solana's body felt to her, but we really had to get out there. There weren't any problems with us sticking together until we hit another cloud of smoke. This time, Solana didn't grab my tail, so I ended up losing track of her. I kept calling her name and she did respond to me, but I still couldn't find her. Dammit, where's the Squirtle Squad when you need them? I felt like I was going to pass out due to how much smoke I was trying not to breathe in and how much there was flowing around my head.

After much coughing and wheezing, the smoke cleared out enough that I was able to see Solana. She was standing on the edge of a cliff. All I could think at that point was, 'don't fall off that cliff'. I sighed in relief that she was safe. At least, it was until I saw another shiny light from behind a bunch of bushes aimed at Solana. Shit! I thought to myself. She was going to get shot! And this time, it wasn't just to put her to sleep, but to kill her! Not knowing what to do, I did what my instincts told me to do. I ran at full speed and just as the gunshot was fired, I got right in front of Solana and I took the three bullets that were shot at me.

The bullets were shot into my stomach causing me the most excruciating pain that I've ever felt in my life. I collapsed onto Solana causing both of us roll down the slanted cliff and onto an empty patch of grass. The fire continued to burn the meadow around us. Instead of trying to avoid it, I lay there, eyes shut, with my arm around Solana, who lay there right in next to me facing me, feeling the pain in my stomach. It felt so bad that I felt like I was going to die right there, but for some reason, I didn't. I slowly opened my eyes to Solana, who had her eyes shut.

Solana opened her eyes looking at the ground, but she tilted her head up to look at me. I couldn't help but just look at her. She was looking at me with the most shocking look on her face as if I had just done the craziest thing any Umbreon had ever attempted. I felt my eyes watering. Not from sadness, but from relief that Solana was safe. That was all that mattered right now. The one that I was unconditionally in love with was safe and I was the one who saved her. I was in love with her before, but now what when I realized that if I jumped in front of bullets for her, then I knew for sure, that she was the one I wanted for my mate.

"Solana…" I said her name. "I'm not…a killer."

"I know." She said slightly shutting her eyes. "Thank you."

"It's not over, yet. I still have to save my uncle."

"We'll do it together." She said softly.

"Right, together." I nodded in agreement.

Then, I slowly got up still feeling the pain in my stomach, but now wasn't the time for pain. Solana got up after me and we started dashing on over to where my uncle was. Abby was sending off a signal of Solarbeam showing me where my uncle was, so I followed it. I ran for it, just not as fast as I usually would've. It was the pain from those stupid bullets that was really slowing me down. The fire was getting really bad in this area now. From what I could see, it got better in one area, but in this area, it got worse. Things that the humans had laying out were now exploding causing branches to fly. In fact, one actually scratched me in the back as I ran past it. More pain, great.

I could see the small campsite where my uncle was being held, but there was just one problem. There was what seemed like a large wall of fire blocking the campsite. There was just too much in the way for me to go around, so there was only one thing left to do. I was going to have to jump through the fire. It was either that or leave my uncle behind and family never gets left behind, so I was going to go for it. I took a deep breath knowing how painful this thousand degree fire was going to cause me when I jumped through. I stepped back so I could get a running start, but then I felt someone tug on my tail.

"What gives?" I asked the Pokemon who tugged on my tail. I turned around to find one Squirtle with black shades along with four other Squirtles with blue shades.

"Need some firefighters?" The one in black shades asked.

"The Squirtle Squad!" Solana rejoiced.

"You finally made it!" I said happily.

"Yep." One of the heaved a sigh of relief. "Jeez, those Charizard and Blaziken Pokemon never stop fighting one another."

"We don't have time to chat. You need to put out the fire in this part of the meadow. It's getting really bad and I have to jump through so I can save my uncle." I said firmly.

"If it's for King Yaku, then we're on it!" The leader said. "Squirtle Squad, Hydro Pump!" With that, the other four Squirtles started spraying water onto the fire.

"Great, now it looks like I have to go after my uncle now."

"Wait!" The Squirtle leader said. "You should use this." He sprayed Water Gun and soaked me in water. "It'll be MUCH less painful if you jump through the fire soaking wet."

"Thanks!" I thanked the Squirtle. Then I turned to Solana. "Wait until the fire is a lot smaller, then wait until it's safe to come after me."

"But Lune…" She tried to talk me out of it.

"Just trust me!"

I finished before dashing off and then finally jumping through the very warm, orange flames of the Orre Meadow fire. I heard Solana shout my name as I jumped through. While the flames themselves were very thin, they were still very hot and thankfully, as soon as I jumped through, I was on the other side of the wall of fire. I didn't see any other humans around at this point, so it gave me a break, especially since I was still in so much pain from getting shot in the stomach three times.

Before I knew it, I found my uncle Yaku. He was trapped in a cage. He lay there looking like he was doomed and that no one was coming to help him. I'll tell you one thing, he's wrong because I'm going to help him. I looked around before making my move and creeping up to my uncle's cage. Abby, who was standing next to his cage gave me a nod of approval and then left me and my uncle alone. My paw knocked against the cage to get his attention. I got his attention and he looked up at me. Shocked, he stood up and stared at me in disbelief for a few seconds before saying something.

"You came for me." He said shocked.

"Family never gets left behind." I said grinning at him. Uncle Yaku then realized my bleeding stomach and the bloody scratch on my back from the tree branch.

"You're hurt."

"I know, but we have to get you out of here. Abby took care of the rest of the Pokemon and the Squirtle Squad and some other water Pokemon are taking care of the fires, so now all that's left is for you to get out of here." I used Iron Tail right afterwards and broke off the lock. That opened the cage and set him free.

"Who else is here?"

"Solana is nearby and Hikaru's near Orre Woods. Abby is probably with Solana and the Squirtle Squad." I said as I started leading him away from the campsite. "Now, let's get back home so we can relax."

"Thank you, Lune."

"No problem, Uncle Yaku." I chuckled a bit. Then, I stumbled a little as I felt even more pain in my stomach.

"You okay?" Uncle Yaku asked with concern. "What happened?"

"I got…shot…three times in the stomach."

"How?"

"Some bastard was going to shoot Solana and I had no other choice." I sat on the ground for a little bit. "Either I took the shots, or Solana would've been killed." Yaku was silent for a moment.

"You really love her, don't you?"

"More than anything, uncle."

"Well…about what happened before you and Solana went out that one evening, I'm sorry. It's not my choice whether you decide to fall in love or not. I shouldn't have tried to keep you from falling in love with her just because I had a bad experience. I hope you can forgive me." Uncle Yaku said his long apology.

"I forgive you, uncle." I nodded.

"Lune!" I looked ahead and saw Solana along with Abby and Hikaru running over to me.

"Solana! Abby! Hikaru? I thought you were back over near the woods."

"The children were sent back to Orre Forest when the Squirtle Squad arrived here. They put out the fire over where the children were and now they're working on this area." Hikaru explained.

"What about the other water Pokemon?" Solana asked Hikaru.

"They can hold it for a little while longer until the Squirtle Squad gets there." He answered.

"I think we have this whole thing under control. A lot of the humans have taken off because of how we pretty much annihilated them." Abby said happily. "So, let's go home."

"Yeah." I agreed.

Afterwards, everyone started heading back to the forest. I walked slowly behind everyone else because walking fast just makes my stomach feel much worse than it already does. Plus, I also had that scratch on my back, which stung quite a bit. I wasn't at the point where I could take any more pain, but fate wasn't on my side at that point. Before I knew it, I heard another gunshot. This time, it wasn't a water Pokemon, it wasn't at Solana, but it was shot at me! I felt the bullet shoot into my arm as I felt even more pain than I wanted.

I shouted and curse out as I collapsed to the ground in pain. Solana turned around and rushed to my side. Uncle Yaku also came to my side. Before I could say anything, I saw my uncle running past me towards the human that shot me. I heard him and his loud, angry roar as he lunged at the human. As my uncle lunged, I heard another gunshot. I looked over and saw my uncle collapse from the gunshot. This, made me get up swiftly regardless of how much pain I was in and run over to his side. He was breathing hoarsely and there was blood coming from his chest.

Like I said to Solana, I wasn't a killer, but I was definitely a pissed off Umbreon and I wanted to teach this guy a lesson. So, I dashed after him. I let out my angry roar and lunged at him as well. He kept trying to shoot me, but he failed every time. Eventually, I started to climb a tree thinking that if I stayed on the ground, chances were that he would eventually get me and then I'd be dead. As I climbed, I saw the human start to climb up as well. Damn, I never saw a human so desperate to kill an Umbreon before in my life.

I hid in the tree some before finding the opportune moment to pin him and scare the living hell out of him. The moment came, and I jumped off a limb and pinned him to the limb he was on. My growling and snarling didn't really do any good. He's obviously dealt with Eeveelutions in the past and wasn't afraid of me right now. The human just lay there pinned underneath me and had a smirk on his face.

"Go ahead, eat me." He said sarcastically. I didn't want to eat him. So, I stepped off of him thinking that he learned not to mess with me and that he'd leave. "Looks like someone's a little scaredy cat." This time, I snarled and growled and grabbed the rifle from out of his carrier and swung it into the limb breaking it.

"At least I'm not a killer like you are!" I shouted even though he couldn't understand.

The human got pissed off that I destroyed his rifle and this time, brought out a knife trying to stab me. Oh boy, I thought to myself. This time, I really had to be quick with my agility because he was also very close to me as well. However, if there's one thing that humans don't understand when it comes to fighting a Pokemon with great agility is that we always get them caught up in a bad situation such as the one going on right now.

We were really high up in the tree now and there were plenty of vines in this part of the tree. The human was so busy worrying about getting me that he didn't pay any attention in getting himself caught up in the vines that hung from the tree. Eventually, he was so caught up he could barely move. I stood there on the limb facing the tangled human. He just went ahead and started biting the vines apart unaware of the consequences that he was about to behold. I knew he couldn't understand me, but it was worth a shot. I warned him to stop biting the vines or else he was going to fall down many feet and kill himself.

He cut enough if the vines to allow himself to fall out of the tree. I tried to hold a vine to pull him up, but he was so heavy that he started pulling me down with him. He kept falling until the vine that was still around his neck stopped stretching out and hung him. I kept falling down the tree and hit a few limbs before finally making it all the way down. As I landed, there was a lightning strike and rain started coming down heavily. I panted very heavily from the pain and how tired I was at this point. I watched the human as his dead body hung there and then turned around and started walking back to where my friends were waiting.

It was then that I felt that this whole battle was over. We, the Pokemon, had won and Orre Forest was safe.

**Author's Note: Yay! Chapter 15 is done! Chapter 16 will be up ASAP!**


	16. Lune's Reign

**Author's Note: I'm on a roll here! Here's chapter 16 and the final chapter! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Stuff yourself full of turkey and enjoy this final chapter!**

Chapter 16: Lune's Reign

I walked slowly back to where my friends were waiting over near the what-used-to-be humans' campsite. Solana stood there in front of everyone else waiting for me. I was limping a bunch since I now had an injured arm. She looked like she had a look of relief on her that I was okay and I made it through alright. I made it over to her. Solana then came closer to me and started nuzzling my neck. I nuzzled her back. I was just glad that she was safe and okay.

"I'm back." I said.

"You're okay. Except you now have a hurt arm." Solana then started licking my now bleeding arm.

"I know, but I think I'm okay."

"So, is it over?" Abby asked. "Is it really over?"

"I'd say so." All four of us looked over and saw the Quagsire that led the water Pokemon into putting out the fires. "The Squirtle Squad is finishing up with the fire fighting. The humans are surrendering and are packing up to get out of here. And all of the Pokemon that were captured have now returned to their homes in Orre Forest."

"Well, then I guess it's safe to say we won!" Abby said jumping up.

"Yeah, now, I think we can go back to Orre Forest and enjoy what we have left of springtime for us." I said. Then, I lifted my arm up that was feeling in pain right now.

"We should probably get you to Nurse Joy right now." Solana suggested.

"Good idea. Better to get myself fixed up now before I get any worse."

"Actually, I think it's kind of a bad idea right now." Hikaru said. "Look."

All of us looked over to find Yami and Takeshi sitting next to my uncle who was lying on the ground! Solana nudged me signaling me to go to him. I limped over there and Solana followed me. Yami looked up at me with sad eyes and so did Takeshi. I started to get a lump in my throat knowing what this meant. Yami gave my uncle one last nuzzle in his neck and then moved out of the way. Takeshi came up to me and placed one of his large wings around my shoulders.

"He doesn't have much time left." He said sadly.

"Can't we do something about it?" I asked.

"He's old." Yami said with his head shaking. "It won't do him any good."

I nodded in agreement and then made my way over to my uncle for my final goodbyes to him. He was breathing rather hoarsely just like that mother Swampert from earlier except for his breathing sounded worse than hers. Uncle Yaku's eyes were shut. It almost seemed like he was ready to go, but was holding on so he could say goodbye to me. I sat next to my uncle's side and placed on of my paws on his shoulder. My dying uncle opened his eyes and made eye contact with me. He then heaved a big sigh and barely cracked a smile at me.

"Lune…" He began to say.

"Uncle…I'm sorry." I immediately said.

"No…forgive me. I never understood…that you always….were…a better Pokemon…than your father…ever was…and I just…wish I could've…known you more…"

"You can, uncle! I don't care what Yami and Takeshi say! We'll get you to Nurse Joy, she'll cure you, and you'll be back to your old self."

"Don't bother, Lune. I'm too old. My heart is giving out. There's nothing… you can do to stop it… from giving out. It's my… time to go. Soon, it'll be… your time to go."

"No! You're wrong, Uncle Yaku!" I yelled as my eyes started to tear up. "It's not your time, yet! Orre Forest needs you! Yami and Takeshi need you!" Then, I started to sniffle. "I need you."

"You're… a grown Pokemon, Lune. You…don't need me."

"Of course I do!" I choked out. "Other than my mother, you're the only family I have left! What family member am I going to turn to when I need help?"

"Lune…" His breathing got harder.

"Yes, Uncle?"

"Orre Forest…will be…in your hands…now."

"What?"

"You…will be…the new…king of Orre Forest."

"N-No! Uncle Yaku! No!" I cried out. "You can't really be going!"

"Lune…please…promise me…that you'll…take care… of Orre Forest." Uncle Yaku breathed heavily.

"Uncle Yaku! I'm not going to let you die! You're going to be alright! I promise you! You'll live! We'll get you to Nurse Joy and then you'll be okay, again! Just, please, don't make me be the king yet! It's not your time to go yet!" I started crying a bit.

"Lune…"

"Yeah?"

"Lune……"

"Uncle Yaku?"

"Lune…………your mother………."

"Yes, what about my mother?" I asked.

"Tell her……that I'll always……love her….even if…it didn't turn out……the way I hoped."

"You can tell her yourself, Uncle Yaku. She'll eventually come visit me and then you can tell her everything!"

"Lune…………………"

"Yes?"

"Lune………………take care of……………….."

With that, nothing came out of him. My uncle passed out and took one last breath. The paw that I was holding in my paw slipped out and fell onto the ground without any additional movement. I sat there in shock wanting to do something about it. Solana stood on my uncle's other side and nudged him some hoping he would budge. He didn't. My uncle just lay there without budging an inch. He looked so lifeless. He wasn't breathing, his eyes weren't even shut all the way, they were barely cracked open. His mouth also hung open a little. I kept tapping him trying to get him to move, no response.

"Uncle Yaku! Get up, uncle!" I yelled while tapping him.

"He's gone." Solana said with teary eyes. "He's really…gone." She started to cry afterwards.

"Don't cry, Solana! He's not dead! He's just unconscious! We have to hurry and get him back to the forest and get him cured!" I yelled at her.

"Lune, he's dead. There's nothing you can do about it." Yami said from behind me.

"How do you know?" I asked angrily. No answer. "I guess that's it then. You and Takeshi are both going to give up on the one Pokemon that was like a father to you guys?"

"Listen to me!" Yami yelled with tears coming down his eyes. "If we could, we'd do whatever we can to save Yaku! He WAS like a father to us! He was probably like a father to you too since your father was a bastard! He was a great king to Orre Forest and they respected him! Everyone would do whatever they could to help Yaku if they could, but we can't! King Yaku is dead and he's not coming back! It sucks and it's very upsetting, but we have to accept the fact that he'll only be with us spiritually and that we need to find a new king! Trying to reject the fact that he's dead is only going to make it worse for you! So, just accept it and move on!"

I looked down at my uncle. I didn't want to believe Yami that he was dead, but I had to. There was no way he was coming back. I sat there in shock realizing that I just watched my uncle die right in front of me. Tears started pouring out of my eyes and falling onto the ground. Yami was right. My uncle was dead and there was no way he was coming back. The only family I had left was dead and there was nothing I could do about it. I collapsed onto my uncle's dead body and buried my face into his mane.

"Uncle Yaku!" I cried out his name. I lay there on my uncle allowing myself to sob for some time.

"Lune…" Solana came up to me with sadness in her voice and placed a paw on my shoulder. "We'll get through this…together."

"Together." I muttered.

"It's okay, Lune." Takeshi said from behind me. "We'll all miss him."

"It's just…not fair!" I shouted through my tears.

"Life isn't fair." Takeshi added in.

"No! I mean…Yami is right! I never had a father I could look up to because of how much of a jerk he was! I didn't even have a choice! And now, the only Pokemon I had that was even close to a father is gone! Dammit! Why does life have to be so messed up like this?" I shouted not just because I had lost the last of my family but because I was in so much pain with a lump in my throat, my stomach was in a lot of pain, my arm hurt and now the scratch on my back was stinging.

The rain started to come down heavier than it had been. I wiped the remainder of my tears with my blood-stained paw and sat up. Then I looked to the side of me. There, I saw Solana, Abby, Hikaru, Yami, Takeshi, and the water Pokemon that I recruited to put out the fires. The meadow was now getting soaked. Small embers remained on parts of trees, but the rain would put them out. All of the Pokemon were looking at me strangely. It was almost as if they were waiting for something. I stood up and walked over to them. They all stood in a circle and waited for me to reach the middle. I limped over and stood in the middle.

All of the Pokemon continued to look at me. This time, with grins on their faces. I still didn't understand what they wanted from me. I looked at each and everyone of the Pokemon before one stepped into the middle with me. The Pokemon was the same little Mudkip that lost his mother earlier in the evening. He came up to me slowly until he was within a couple inches away. Then, he shut his eyes and leaned his round head against one of my legs. He started to nuzzle it a bit. I simply watched the little Pokemon nuzzle me and I chuckled at him.

"You're a hero, Lune." He said to me.

"Me?" I asked. They all nodded.

"Our hero is also our new king." The Feraligatr said as Mudkip ran back to him.

"Me? King?" With that, I felt another Pokemon's hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Taka(where did he come from?) who was looking at me proudly.

"It is time." He said softly. (A/N: LOL! Lion King! XD)

This only meant one thing. Yaku handed me the responsibility of taking care of Orre Forest and protecting it just like he did. I heaved a big sigh and then walked over to the same large rock that my uncle stood on when I first met him. I stepped on the large rock after climbing some smaller rocks and I stood there very straight and still. I stood as proudly as my uncle did back when he was king of Orre Forest. Now, it was my turn. In my uncle's honor, I will protect the Orre Forest with everything I've got.

While I was up there, the rest of the Pokemon looked up at me like I was a god or something. Then, one by one, starting with Yami and Takeshi, the Pokemon bowed in front of me. I couldn't believe it. The Pokemon that I'm responsible for were now in front of me bowing to me. They want me to make the law. They want me to protect them. They want me to bring peace to the Orre Forest. And that's just what I was going to do. I was going to bring peace to the forest and I was going to be a as great of a king as my uncle was, maybe even better.

I took a deep breath and then let out a mighty roar (cry?). Everyone else started chanting my name as I continued to roar. After roaring, I looked down at Solana who was smiling at me with teary eyes. I smiled at her as well. This made me think that not only was I going to be king of Orre Forest, but I was also going to make Solana my queen one day.

"You'll be a great king." Solana said.

"_And you'll be a great queen."_ Was all I could think at that point.

I jumped off the rock still in pain and started leading my fellow Pokemon back to Orre Forest. Blastoise and Feraligatr both picked up Yaku's body so we could have a proper ceremony the next day. All I knew at this point was that this was the start of a brand new era.

**Author's Note: Hey guys, thanks for sticking with me this whole time! This fanfic was really a lot of fun to write and I'll be doing the sequel very soon now!**


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